Early numbers have begun rolling in and they are pretty much on par with our predictions from Thursday as Shazam! Fury of the Gods is expected to win the weekend with right around $30 million in box office receipts. That number is based off the $3.4 million the film made in Thursday previews and its unconfirmed (as of this writing) Friday total of $11 million. Some think the film can get a bit higher as Saturday’s tend to be big for family outings to the theater and Shazam! is certainly one of the more family friendly superheroes.
No matter where Shazam! Fury of the Gods ends up this weekend, it won’t be anywhere near the $53.5 million the original opened with in April of 2019. Here is where generally I would sing the praises of a film and say I wish more people had gone to see it, but sadly I think super hero movie fatigue has hit me pretty hard over the past year as this sequel, for me, was a bit of a let down. Just as it was with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, I went into this one having loved the previous entry because it was just a really fun movie that didn’t take itself too serious. This movie had some good jokes, the cast was great and genuinely seemed like they were having fun, but it just turned into another cookie cutter CGI monster superhero pile of meh. It was blatantly obvious this film was left over from the old DCEU and was just given a theatrical release to try and recoup anything it could before the full on reboot that is coming. Of course, I am but one man, and my opinions are not gospel (not yet at least!) For a completely different take on the film, check out our own JimmyO’s 9/10 review here.
Despite solid reviews and a 92% audience score, Scream VI looks to have a similar drop off as its predecessor with just shy of a 60% dip from last weeks franchise best opening. That puts the second frame of this slasher at around $18.4 million with a running total of $76.9 million, putting it just about $5 million away from overtaking the domestic total of last years Scream and about $27 million away from overtaking the franchise best take of the original film from 1996. I definitely thought this one would have a better second week hold, but it is a pretty crowded marketplace right now and it is only going to get more crowded in the weeks to come.
Third place will belong to Michael B. Jordan and his directorial debut Creed III which is currently eyeing a $17 million third week while fourth place looks to be the Sam Raimi produced 65 with a projected $5.3 million, representing a 57% drop. I will be honest here, I expected this one to drop in the 70% range, so only losing 57% is kind of a win. Rounding out the top five is that other disappointing (to me) super hero movie: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with a projected $5.3 million.
Have you seen Shazam! Fury of the Gods yet? Do you think I am being too harsh in my criticism of the film? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to check back tomorrow for a full run down of this weekends box office numbers.