“Shazam: Fury of the Gods” did not have a good weekend. There will be a lot of think-pieces about what went wrong in the coming weeks, but one thing’s for sure: it’s turning into a bomb for Warner Bros.
Ok, let’s do some math.
It cost $125 million to produce, marketing costs on the film were at least $80 million, and I read somewhere it could even be $100 million.
The film opened with a terrible $30 million this past weekend; the first one had a $56 million opening. Mediocre reviews surely didn’t help, ditto all the drama that’s been plaguing the DCEU the last year.
So far, ‘Shazam 2’ has a tough road ahead, with “John Wick: Chapter 4” about to eclipse it at the box-office this coming weekend. The sequel is on pace for a, at least, a 50% drop in its second weekend.
I doubt the film breaks even, in fact, it’ll probably lose a lot of money. How much? We’re not entirely sure, but I’m sure a trade will be hiring an accountant in no time and making the calculations.
The negative press the film has been getting was only accentuated this week when its star, Shazam himself, Zachary Levi decided to take a shot at ‘Black Adam’ star Dwayne Johnson.
Johnson’s Black Adam is a key antagonist to Shazam. However, the fact that both characters ended up not having their films connected in any way shape or form was an oddity for many fans of the comics.
On Tuesday, The Wrap reported that Johnson blocked the characters from appearing in ‘Fury of the Gods’, and that the actor and producer also nixed a potential Levi cameo in Black Adam.
In a post on his personal Instagram, Levi responded to the report that Johnson had vetoed a Black Adam crossover set for Shazam 2's post-credits stinger, writing "The truth shall set you free.”
How is everybody involved with the DCEU so unlikable? It’s such a mess.
While we’re at it, has Dwayne Johnson ever made a good movie? I just scrolled through his entire filmography and the only one his 30+ movies that I actually liked was Michael Bay’s underrated “Pain and Gain.” Go figure. It just goes to show that you don’t need to make good movies to be a major high-paying actor.
Firing back at critics is nothing new, but calling an entire profession “failed artists” who belong "in the bin" is hilarious, and wildly unhinged.