DC/WB Films/Worlds (No Spoilers)

[golgi]

I blame SHAZAM'S low numbers on a handful of things, but u think its primary due to release date. End Game overshadowed SHAZAM. On top of that, the movie is performing like a family release. Small numbers throughout the week, and a solid weekend haul. Its doing fine, overall.

Marketing could have been better, too.

[Colossus1980]

I enjoyed Shazam and disappointed it's not lighting the box office. A poster mentioned it might have fared better released later in the year as a Christmas movie and I tend to agree. I wonder where it's going to finish domestically. 150M+? Too bad poorly reviewed movies like Venom rakes it in while gems like Shazam barely make a blip.

[El_Gato]

I consider Shazam 100 times better than suicide squad, but the BO says otherwise. not even close. lets be honest we all expected better, I can understand fans being biased as truth hurts, I never expected it to reach WW level, but neither being this low at this point. 2 weekends and haven't even passed the 100million mark domestically.
being just profitable is no justification, otherwise DC should make only low budget films and success is assured.

It seems like that is exactly what DC is doing. Joker and Birds of Prey have lower budgets and Black Adam likely will too. Wonder Woman had a 150M budget and Aquaman had a 180M budget. Gone are the days of them spending 200+M on a film (ie GL, MOS, BVS, JL).

[Gaastra]

https://comicbook.com/marvel/2019/04...jTE1uWUPjMCgWU

But will they?

[Jim Kelly]

Will even Gunn return to DC movies after he goes back to Disney? I seriously doubt it. One hope of Gunn doing THE SUICIDE SQUAD wasn't just him working on that movie but other DC movies to follow and maybe more ambitious ones (something with Green Lanterns?), but now it looks like one and done for Gunn.

[The Darknight Detective]

It seems like that is exactly what DC is doing. Joker and Birds of Prey have lower budgets and Black Adam likely will too. Wonder Woman had a 150M budget and Aquaman had a 180M budget. Gone are the days of them spending 200+M on a film (ie GL, MOS, BVS, JL).

Makes sense to me. More profits means more DC films, which I'm all for.

[The Darknight Detective]

I consider Shazam 100 times better than suicide squad, but the BO says otherwise. not even close. lets be honest we all expected better, I can understand fans being biased as truth hurts, I never expected it to reach WW level, but neither being this low at this point. 2 weekends and haven't even passed the 100million mark domestically.
being just profitable is no justification, otherwise DC should make only low budget films and success is assured.

I hear you and agree about the expectations, but in the end, it really shouldn't matter to us at this point except for bragging rights.

[EsotericFailures]

Shazam is successful enough to get a sequel. Unless anyone in this thread owns shares for Warner Bros I wouldn't get too worried about its box office numbers otherwise.

[Jokerz79]

The reason people are bringing up Shazam's numbers is that those were all years ago. The market's changed drastically since then, to the point that there hasn't been a live-action MCU or DC movie that's made less than 500 million at the box office since 2011.

As others have said, Shazam will make a profit. That's great and it looks like a sequel is happening. It's just that a lot of people thought it was going to do a lot better. Pointing out that it's the lowest grossing DC film in a long time (which is shocking given how great it is) is not Marvel bias or bashing DC.

China has changed the Box since Marvel's Phase One and Nolan's DK Trilogy. The added Chinese box office has raised the bar to what is considered as success also it has changed what Studios spend in Marketing it's insane that now it's normal to add 100 million above any Blockbusters budget for marketing.

With that said Shazam is doing well due to its lower budget it just looks mediocre when compared to WW, Aquaman, or most recent MCU films.

[Johnny]

Honestly, the brazen hypocrisy is just annoying at this point. Shazam will likely make more than most of not all of the initial phase 1 MCU solo films and no one ever claims films like Captain America: The Second Avenger are flops/failures (and its like pulling teeth to get people to admit Hulk was a flop). The double standard is egregious.

I understood that reference. lol

[ChrisG]

I hear you and agree about the expectations, but in the end, it really shouldn't matter to us at this point except for bragging rights.

its not about bragging, the fact that makes me livid, that mediocre movies performed better than Shazam. Maybe its my fault I had high expectations or got carried away after AM, that DC finally managed to find the right manner to make its movies big hits
As for making a profit you can make one of 10 dollars and another of 500dollars, both are profits but there is a difference, a big one.

[Jim Kelly]

It seems like critics have a laundry list of things wrong with the DC movies, yet when WB try to answer those complaints and do what the critics say they should do, they still don't get rewarded for it. It's frustrating.

In the past when a DC movie underperformed, WB lost their nerve and cancelled plans for that franchise. They seem to be sticking by SHAZAM! for now but, given their past actions, it does make one nervous.

[Castling]

Will even Gunn return to DC movies after he goes back to Disney? I seriously doubt it. One hope of Gunn doing THE SUICIDE SQUAD wasn't just him working on that movie but other DC movies to follow and maybe more ambitious ones (something with Green Lanterns?), but now it looks like one and done for Gunn.

How do we know that GOTG 3 isn't one and done for Gunn at Marvel?
Feige has said Gunn isn't that integral to the next phase, and he seems to be looking for indie directors he can control.

[Holt]

It seems like critics have a laundry list of things wrong with the DC movies, yet when WB try to answer those complaints and do what the critics say they should do, they still don't get rewarded for it. It's frustrating.

This really has nothing to do with critics or failures in this case. What unfortunately happened was the confluence of several things: Shazam is not a well known property, and unlike Marvel, where the brand is beloved and consistent enough that it can sell the audience on a property they'd never heard of (like Ant-Man or Guardians), the DCEU is still rehabbing its image. It's getting there, and it's making strides, but it's not at that level yet. They still have a lot of audience goodwill to recover.

The other big factors here was, as people mentioned, the marketing wasn't very good, and the scheduling was even worse. It got dropped between two huge blockbusters, and on a weekend when most people were more preoccupied with pre-ordering tickets to the upcoming aforementioned second blockbuster than they were actually going to the theaters.

[Robotman]

Putting Shazam in between Captain Marvel (which had Endgame ties) and Endgame itself was incredibly stupid. It got completely eclipsed.