Warner's 'Shazam' sequel disappoints with $30.5M opening
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (NASDAQ:WBD) led the weekend box office as it took a turn in the month of sequels - but it pointed toward some potential "hero fatigue" among filmgoers.
The DC Comics adaptation stretched to a disappointing opening of $30.5M, easily taking the top spot, but at nearly half the $53.5M domestic opening for its 2019 predecessor Shazam.
That mirrors a comedown over at the latest Marvel release. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (NYSE:DIS) opened to $106.1M, and has rolled to a domestic total of $205.8M and a worldwide $462.6M so far, and it's easily the second-best performer in 2023.
But the film has underperformed its two franchise predecessors: The first Ant-Man ended up with $519.3M worldwide after its 2015 opening, and Ant-Man and the Wasp hit $622.7M in its 2018 run.
And $30.5M is a light opening for a Shazam film that reportedly cost at least $110M to make.
March's other sequels fell in line behind Shazam for the weekend. Scream VI (NASDAQ:PARA) (PARAA) grossed $17.5M in its second weekend to bring its cumulative domestic total to just over $76M, and Creed III (United Artists/NASDAQ:AMZN) was third-best in its third week, with $15.4M for a cumulative total of $127.7M.
Rounding out the top five were dinosaur adventure 65 (SONY), with $5.8M in its second week, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (DIS) with $4.1M in its fifth week.
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).