Box office: disastrous start for Shazam 2, the end of an era for superhero films?

Would the public be fed up with superheroes? In any case, this is what one can ask oneself when seeing the results of Shazam! The Rage of the Gods. The DC Universe film only grossed $30 million at the box office for its US debut, 43% less than the first film. We take stock.

A Shazam in lack of lightning

Another failure for the DC Comics Extended Universe (UEDC). After the poor results of The Suicide Squad (169 million dollars collected for a budget of 185) and black adam (393 million collected for an estimated budget of 250), Shazam! The Rage of the Gods just signed another fiasco for the franchise at the box office. With $30.5 million in the United States, and a worldwide accumulation of 65 million for its first weekend of exploitation, the sequel to the 2019 film (366 million worldwide at the time) did not managed to bring the crowds into the halls. At this rate, Shazam 2 will not reach the symbolic bar of 100 million dollars on American territory, and will have to hope to limit damage internationally.

Shazam 2 is the 3rd worst start in history for the UEDC, ahead of The Suicide Squad (26.2) and Wonder Woman 1984 (16.7), but behind Birds of Prey (33 million). A failure which is partly explained by the bad reviews and first feedback on the film: Shazam! The Rage of the Gods is rated 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 47 out of 100 on Metacritic.

Beyond the particular case of the UEDC, which confirms its slow agony, the score of Shazam 2 seems to point to a weariness of the public towards superhero films, or at least for those which do not have an important event dimension, such as Spider-Man: No Way Homeor a strong proposition like The Batman. Even the recent Marvels have stalled, and are recording less impressive results than usual. With $470 million worldwide currently, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania scores one of the MCU’s lowest scores, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (858 million) is clearly down on the original film (1.3 billion).

If all these figures obviously represent a lot of money, the superhero genre is no longer the safe bet of the American box office that it once was, and is gradually becoming a colossus with feet of clay. The next Marvel and DC productions will have to take risks and show new ideas if they want to convince the spectators to move for yet another adventure of the genre.

Scream 6 And Creed 3 confirm test

In the rest of the box office, Scream 6 is placed in 2nd position and gleans an additional 17.5 million dollars to climb, cumulatively, to 76 million in the United States and 116 in the world. After signing the best start to the horror franchise, the film should establish itself as one of its greatest successes. Ghostface still has a bright future ahead of it.

In third place, Creed 3 rakes in $15.3 million. After three weeks of exploitation, the film exceeds 127 million dollars in the United States and 224 million in the world to become the biggest success of the franchise Creed, of which a new opus is already in preparation.

Where to see the other films of the saga rocky ?

If you are a fan of sports and boxing in particular, the Rocky saga is obviously essential. Written and carried by Sylvester Stallone since the first part in 1976, it has established itself as one of the most iconic franchises in cinema, a reference of the genre. It was rebooted in 2016 with Creedwhich saw Michael B. Jordan take on the lead role and Rocky Balboa take on the mentor-coach suit.