Shazam! Fury of the Gods - Box Office Mojo, shazam fury of the gods box office (2024)

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Is Shazam Fury of the Gods flop or hit? ›

After a forgettable theatrical run and lukewarm reception, it makes sense that Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) wouldn't do well at the box office. However, what is surprising is how bad it did because it is the worst-performing movie in the history of the DC Cinematic Universe.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, who considered it inferior to its predecessor. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $134 million worldwide against a production budget of $110–125 million.

Fury of the Gods” mostly sticks to the comic book formula that the first movie poked fun at, despite another strong comedic performance from star Zachary Levi and some sporadic yuks throughout. It's schtickier and less assured than the first “Shazam!” but these leftovers still reheat well enough.

With Billy Batson's stated age in Shazam! being "basically 15," he is just a few months shy of 18 when he returns to wield the 6 powers of Shazam three years later in Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

The obvious place to start to explain its box-office disappointment is with its critical reception. Where the first movie rode high with a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the sequel is languishing with 51% although at least it can take comfort in knowing it's not the lowest (that's Suicide Squad's 26%, fact fans).

DC Studios only wants to release two live-action movies per year. This could mean that a theoretical Shazam 3 will not release until 2028 unless it is fast-tracked or DC increases its output goals.

Of course, in addition to the strange and overly uncompelling marketing, word of mouth and reviews played a big part in audiences' relative lack of interest in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Shazam! actually performed very well for critics and audiences alike, but the same can't be said for Shazam!

The continuous turmoil and lack of direction in the DCEU, coupled with mediocre movies and inflated budgets, contributed to the struggles of these subsequent releases. Black Adam's failure can be seen as the beginning of the downfall of the franchise.

Summary. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom surpasses a previous DC movie's global gross in just four weeks, a notable achievement for the sequel. The film has already grossed $396.2 million worldwide, nearing the $400 million mark and outperforming DC's 2022 film, Black Adam.

But Fury of the Gods (now streaming on Max) also features another key DC figure: Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, who makes a surprise cameo near the end of the film.

Why wasn't Gal Gadot in Shazam 2? ›

Gal Gadot's cameo as Wonder Woman in Shazam! Fury of the Gods suffered massively due to conflicts with both her schedule and Warner Bros. ' While Gadot's time as Wonder Woman is almost certainly at an end, she made one final appearance as the Amazonian warrior in the DCU's most recent theatrical release, Shazam 2.

“They were trying to decide if they wanted to have one actor play both the human form and superhero form for the first one as well because she's older, and a lot of the time in the comics, Mary visually didn't change that much.” Ultimately, the decision was made for the sequel to allow Currey to step into both roles.

Last week, The Wrap reported that Dwayne Johnson interfered with the sequel by preventing the filmmakers from using Black Adam characters in its post-credits sequence — even though Black Adam and Shazam originated in the same series of comics.

In short, Black Adam should be Shazam's equal, but some of his powers are beyond Billy Batson's abilities. Black Adam also has allies that help him overcome entire squads of superheroes. Then, Black Adam has a lot of combat experience, while Shazam is, in fact, a child.

Billy Batson, AKA Shazam himself, dominated our poll, getting 82% of the vote by the time we spoke to the cast. That's probably not too shocking though, considering he's the title character. So really, the big race was to see who fans felt could end up as the second most powerful member of the family after Billy.

Despite the failure of Black Adam which saw only a $393 million worldwide gross against a $260 million budget, subsequent releases from the DCEU in the year after the film's release somehow shine a more positive light on the Johnson-led blockbuster.

Fury of the Gods would have needed to have brought in around $250 million to break-even, but this isn't factoring in marketing and promotional costs. Since Fury of the Gods only grossed $133.5 million, it was far from its target and marked a dramatic loss for DC.