New Line’s COVID-delayed DC film Shazam! Fury of the Gods will finally hit theaters this weekend in 77 offshore territories and the US, with a global outlook of between $80 million and $85 million, with $35 million domestic.
The sequel, most recently directed by David F. Sandberg, was scheduled to premiere on December 21, but last August Warner Bros decided they would not play second fiddle to Avatar: The Way of Water and pushed the sequel to mid-March, where they now have access to Imax auditoriums as well as Dolby, PLF screens and motion seats. The total number of theaters for Friday is north of 4,300 locations. Previews begin Thursday at 3:00 p.m. in 3,400 cinemas. The LA premiere of the film, directed by Zachary Levi, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler, is tonight, but Sandberg will not be attending as he has tested positive for Covid.
Families got 27% for the first film and it’s said they could do even more this time with 50%.
Fury of the Gods will be rolled out overseas between Wednesday and Friday, which is expected to cost an international launch of between $45 million and $50 million. On Wednesday, Korea is among the majors (France leaves two weeks later to take advantage of the Easter holidays). On Thursday, Shazam 2 is coming primarily to Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Mexico, while on Friday the UK, Spain, Japan and China will be added.
Overall, Shazam 2 will see a lower launch both abroad and domestically than the 2019 original ($53.5 million domestic, $102 million WW). Let’s see if the picture over-indexes and beats the tracking: Both Creed III and Scream VI blew their forecasts with franchise top starts of $58.3 million and $44.4 million, respectively. A rush is also prevented here by the fact that Shazam isn’t your typical dark DC property, but a silly PG-13 movie.
In terms of overseas competitions, the launch was alongside the 2019 film and with previews and a Russian withdrawal at $83.5 million at today’s prices. If we also take China out of the equation, then the comparable start on current exchanges was $55.5 million. While Fury of the Gods leads Friday’s presale in China, the same cannot be said for Saturday and Sunday. We see a potential of over $12 million for three days there.
The hope here is that Shazam 2’s family nature will catch a little attention in the English-speaking and Latin American markets. The UK, Mexico, Australia and Brazil were among the top overall plays for Shazam! the first.
The cast members traveled to Rome and London earlier this month for promotional events and screenings.
Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI sees its second weekend down -55% after a robust Monday of $3.66M. Directed by Radio Silence, the sequel was expected to gross around $20 million. MGM/United Artists Releasing’s Creed III should gross between $17-18 million, -36%.