Shazam! Fury of the Gods Director David F. Sandberg Says He’s “Done With Superheroes For Now”

Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg is “done with superheroes” for now and can’t wait to get back to his horror roots. After a not-so-impressive box office opening for DC Comics’ latest film, the filmmaker took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the critical and public reception, particularly the Rotten Tomatoes score. He noted that Shazam! 2 scored its career-low critic score – 53% – but also the highest viewership score of 87%, saying it wanted to disconnect from superhero talk online and that “it would be good not to have to think about it anymore”.

The sequel to 2017 Shazam! fell short of expectations, grossing $65.5 million (about 541 crore) at the worldwide box office in its opening weekend. Only $30.5 million (about Rs 252 crore) came from the United States and Canada, while the remaining $35 million (about Rs 289 crore) came from outside regions. The first number is one of the worst openings for a DC Cinematic Universe movie in the US, not taking into account pandemic releases such as Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.7 million / approx Rs. 138 crore) and The Suicide Squad ($26 million / approx. Rs. 215 crore), both of which premiered on HBO Max alongside their theatrical releases. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now showing in theaters only.

“On Rotten Tomatoes, I just got my lowest critic score and highest audience score on the same movie,” Sandberg said. “I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie from a critical point of view but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good movie. Too bad.” For comparison, 2017 Shazam! has a critics score of 90%, boosted by an audience score of 82%. “As I’ve been saying for a while now, I can’t wait to get back to horror (as well as trying new things). After six years of Shazam, I’m definitely done with superheroes for now,” he added. Sandberg noted that he didn’t regret for a second working on the Shazam! Movies and that he will always be grateful. Prior to his work on DC Comics, the filmmaker was known for his work on horror films such as Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out – the latter feature was based on his own 2013 short. which the director is heading now, in addition to doing occasional content for his YouTube channel, of course.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was reportedly budgeted at $125 million (roughly Rs. 1,033 crore), with director Sandberg previously claiming the character could survive in James Gunn’s DC revamp if enough people watch the film. “What I have been told is that there is nothing in the Shazam movies that contradict DC’s future plans,” he said. replied to a fan last month. It’s unclear how the box office numbers affect those plans, as Gunn prepares to launch his new DC Universe saga, “Gods and Monsters.” One thing is certain: Sandberg will not be involved for some time.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now in theaters around the world. In India, Shazam 2 is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

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