SHAZAM! 2 FURY OF THE GODS opening | Superheroes in 2023 updated | March 17 to 19, 2023 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: March 17 to 19, 2023
1) Shazam! 2 Fury of the Gods opening
- This is a soft opening for a non-Marvel superhero follow-up, down substantially from Shazam! 1’s start in April 2019. Audience scores and critic's reviews are off from the first film, as well. Shazam! is mid-level superhero material to begin with, and the weekend figure is about average for a non-Marvel episode 2.
This is the second DC Comics series that spun off a major character after one episode (Black Adam did it following Shazam! 1, and Harley Quinn did it following Suicide Squad). That's quick by superhero standards, and neither series has benefited from it in the long term.
Marvel dominates this genre — you can see it below. Marvel openings are approx. 3x non-Marvel releases, the movies are well-reviewed, and with a few exceptions, Marvel series build during the first three episodes:
- During the last 5 months, Warner Discovery and DC Comics’ new management have reset the label's creative direction and lineup. They are not aiming for mid-level, they are aiming for industry-leading, and that includes pausing, rebuilding, or stopping series like Shazam!, Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad, which were mishandled when the telephone people ran the studio.
2) Superheroes in 2023 updated
- Here's an update on superheroes in 2023. So far, Ant-Man slowed after an excellent start, and Shazam! is falling. Neither film found an original, creative way forward — neither elevated their series. Next up is Guardians of the Galaxy 3 in early May.
There's an additional "reserved" date for a superhero movie in the second half of 2023, so the lineup may include another title as well:
