DC/WB Films/Worlds (No Spoilers)

[El_Gato]

So it looks like Shazam might end up selling less than MoS. I really hope WB learns from this next time, the DC brand isn’t strong enough to go head to head with Marvel yet. At least we’re going to be getting sequels and those will hopefully perform even better now that Billy’s name is out there.

Though to be fair it cost 1/3 of what MOS did and Shazam is not as iconic as Superman. Shazam lacked action and had a meh release date, stuff that can be fixed in the sequel.

Hopefully Shazam's box office doesnt stop WB from taking more chances with lesser known characters.

[skyvolt2000]

I was really hoping SHAZAM! could make closer to 30 million this weekend. They have a chance of doing well over the Easter long weekend--they should pull out the stops and really promote it this week. The thing is, the new release that could challenge it is also a WB movie.

Not doing well in China is what hurts. Hard to understand the cultural politics, but supernatural movies are not liked by the government there. Strange, since so many Chinese stories have a supernatural element--but maybe that conflicts with Maoist values.

Should DC try to change their movies to appeal to China, so they can accumulate more at the box office?

NO.

China should NEVER dictate what you do with your movies. Because when you allow them to do that you OPEN yourself to way more cherry picking of what gets made.

Black Panther still makes a billion without China. It would only fall from 9 to 14 all time world wide grosses.

Studios used China as an excuse to NOT to make black movies.
Meanwhile guys like Adam Sandler & Ben Stiller NEED China to get hits. See Pixels.

I don't want China to be used as an excuse to not do a film not just with a black lead (if Dc would ever do one) but franchises like Shazam. You have to ween yourself from relying on Batman for profit.
Folks get burned out.
Your top grossing female lead super heroine movie is Carol Danvers. Not Wonder Woman. If a failed solo lead like Carol can do that-what could someone like Vixen or Jessica Cruz or Zantanna or Power Girl or Starfire do?

But if you are going to worry about China-we may never see it.

[ChrisG]

Though to be fair it cost 1/3 of what MOS did and Shazam is not as iconic as Superman. Shazam lacked action and had a meh release date, stuff that can be fixed in the sequel.

Hopefully Shazam's box office doesnt stop WB from taking more chances with lesser known characters.

with the same reasoning neither Aquaman was iconic as superman, besides Shazam cost some 50million less than WW or captain marvel, and results are a very far cry from what those two movies achieved. I didn't expect it to be a success as AM or WW either. Although It had great reviews and the coattails of AM, therefore either its not popular enough to carry itself or it wasn't so great as we all believe. Lets face it, it is not doing well at BO.

As for the sequel taking in consideration production, filming etc a realistic release date should be around December 2021, facing avatar!!

I don't agree that WB should take chances on lesser characters, UNTIL, it strengthens its brand enough, ATM it has a long way to go before this brand can take on certain challenges. WB has feet of clay, one flop can bring down all that WW and AM have managed to restore.

[Jokerz79]

Marvel doesn't do that well in China either though

previous films in the DCEU have done pretty well there. Aquaman made almost $300mil there and BvS and WW made close to 100mil and even JL made over 100mil there (Suicide Squad is banned in China)

Since Iron Man 3 only Thor the Dark World and GOTG made less than 100 million in China with Infinity War making 350 million plus there is a reason the MCU has catered to China from subplot in Iron Man 3 exclusive to the China release and to the casting of Ancient One in Dr. Strange to erase the Tibetan comic origins of Ancient One. DC is definitely on the upswing in China with WW and Aquaman but the MCU does gangbusters in China also.

[Pinsir]

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.

[ChrisG]

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.

We shouldn't care about the MCU, but comparing it to the DCEU, to date its not the hit we all expected or at least we had higher expectations and hopes.

[Pinsir]

We shouldn't care about the MCU, but comparing it to the DCEU, to date its not the hit we all expected or at least we had higher expectations and hopes.

I'm the most die hard, obstinate DCEU fan person there is and I think its doing great. Good films often don't make a billion dollars, in fact, they pretty never do and as a start, its going to make more than Captain America 1 which has become a billion dollar franchise in its own right.

[Jim Kelly]

Are you asking what we as fans want?

I only have questions. I don't have the answers.

[Zudomon]

Shazam is doing good for what it is. He's not a main stream movie and it wasn't an expensive movie to make. Compare it to Batman Begins, which had a budget of $150 Million and made $375 worldwide and that was considered a huge success for DC.

[ChrisG]

I'm the most die hard, obstinate DCEU fan person there is and I think its doing great. Good films often don't make a billion dollars, in fact, they pretty never do and as a start, its going to make more than Captain America 1 which has become a billion dollar franchise in its own right.

we agree to disagree, using your argument aquaman should never made over a billion. shazam from all dceu films got the best reviews, but what counts is the box office and compared to other DCEU films its not doing great.

[golgi]

SHAZAM had a 100 million dollar budget. So far, it's a sleeper hit, and the sequel is all but green lit. Doesn't matter if it doesn't pass MOS (It won't), because it had a much lower budget.

[The Darknight Detective]

we agree to disagree, using your argument aquaman should never made over a billion. shazam from all dceu films got the best reviews, but what counts is the box office and compared to other DCEU films its not doing great.

Shazam! is guaranteed already to be profitable and will have a sequal, so, IMO, it has done what it needed to do. It doesn't have to beat The Dark Knight or Black Panther n real dollars.

[ChrisG]

Shazam! is guaranteed already to be profitable and will have a sequal, so, IMO, it has done what it needed to do. It doesn't have to beat The Dark Knight or Black Panther n real dollars.

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.

[Holt]

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.

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.

[Lightning Rider]

I haven't seen it yet but I'm actually not surprised it wasn't some huge smash hit. The bad dates aside, Shazam isn't engrained in popular culture and I imagine the trailer made it look like a fun-but-not-essential superhero movie that was more self-parodying than anything else.