Ideally, Shazam! Fury of the Gods would have surpassed its 2019 predecessor's box office total, but this unfortunately didn't come to pass. Released on March 17, 2023, Shazam! Fury of the Gods marked the returns of Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson and his adult superhero alter-ego Shazam, joined by the new Shazam family in a battle against the Daughters of Atlas, with Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler joining the cast. 2023 will mark the final chapter in the DCEU, as The Flash is set to reset the franchise ahead of the 2025 release of Superman: Legacy, so Shazam's future in the DCU is uncertain.
Following Shazam! and 2022's Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was expected to expand on this corner of the DC Universe, potentially allowing the character to continue in James Gunn and Peter Safran's new slate of DCU projects. While David F. Sandberg's 2023 sequel was highly anticipated among DC fans, this wasn't reflected in reviews or the box office total of the film, which also did nothing to pay off the Mister Mind tease from Shazam!, or feature anything to do with Dwayne Johnson's Teth-Adam, a.k.a. Black Adam. Here's a breakdown of Shazam! Fury of the Gods' budget and disappointing box office run.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods' Budget Was Reportedly $125 Million
Shazam! Fury of the Gods reportedly cost $110-£125 million to make, with Variety reporting in March 2023 that the film cost around $100 million, akin to its 2019 predecessor, Shazam!. While this was of course a sizable amount of money, it paled in comparison to previous DC projects such as Black Adam and The Suicide Squad, which had budgets of $185 million and $200 million, respectively. Both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League cost well over $200 million to make, so Shazam! Fury of the Gods' budget was rather small, especially when considering the amount of visual effects that would be needed to effectively deliver the story.
Sequels usually get a bigger budget than their original films, especially if the first fared well at the box office, as Shazam! did. As the original film was a combination of a coming-of-age story and a superhero origin story, most of the bigger set pieces and villain reveals were left till later on, meaning the smaller budget was put to good use. However, with Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the story jumps right in to the Shazam family saving lives and showing off their powers, so the bigger budget was necessary. Even so, it perhaps still wasn't enough to successfully pull off an impactful narrative.
How Much Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Made At The Box Office
Shazam! Fury of the Gods grossed a total of $133.5 million at the global box office, broken down into $57.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $75.8 million in other territories. The film was initially predicted to gross $35-$40 million in its opening weekend, and went on to debut to $30.1 million, though this marked a 43% drop from the original film's opening weekend, which brought in $53.5 million. This was the third-worst opening weekend of any project in the DCEU, though the two lower projects - The Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman 1984 - had their releases affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and were released simultaneously on HBO Max.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods' second weekend saw a drop of 69%, raking in only $9.3 million. In comparison, 2019's Shazam! brought in $24.5 million in its second weekend, and grossed a total of $368 million over the course of its theatrical run, $140.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $225.6 million in other territories. These numbers, along with critics deeming Shazam! Fury of the Gods to be vastly inferior to its predecessor, cement the fact that the 2023 sequel was a major disappointment for DC Studios, and put the future of the character in Gunn and Safran's new DC Universe at risk.
Was Shazam! Fury Of The Gods A Box Office Bomb?
Whereas Shazam! brought in a profit of roughly $75 million, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is considered to be a major box office bomb for DC Studios. Typically, theaters keep around 50% of the revenue brought in by films' theatrical releases, so projects need to gross at least double their budget in order to turn a profit. Shazam! Fury of the Gods would have needed to have brought in around $250 million to break-even, but this isn't factoring in marketing and promotional costs. Since Fury of the Gods only grossed $133.5 million, it was far from its target and marked a dramatic loss for DC.
Shazam! was considered a success, but only just, and the similarly themed Black Adam fell into box office bomb territory when marketing costs were taken into consideration, since it brought in $393.3 million at the box office on a budget of $190-$260 million. These poor figures for the three films in this particular corner of the DC Universe perhaps imply that James Gunn and Peter Safran might leave these characters behind, at least for a while. This could mean that the film was the final nail in the coffin for Zachary Levi's character, despite him being teased to join the Justice Society in Shazam! Fury of the Gods' post-credits scene.
