SHAZAM! Movie Reactions and SPOILER thread!

[DebkoX]

Coming back, I am a little upset it didn't gross more.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Coming back, I am a little upset it didn't gross more.

It's grossed $131.5 million as of Monday. I'm wondering if it would be possible to do a re-release of the movie in mid-August after Hobbs & Shaw has been out for a couple of weeks. The other competition that month isn't insurmountable.

It might have been better to hold off until then to begin with. No doubt that the release date is going to cost the movie tens of millions.

Shazam was never going to be a billion dollar hit, but I think it had a shot at hitting $500 million worldwide if it were not so near the biggest movie in history. Shazam's weekend drops were pretty ok until this past weekend.

Hopefully, there is still enough gas in the tank at the box office to hit $400 million worldwide.

[Buried Alien]

Question: is the endowment of the SHAZAM power on Mary, Freddy, Darla, Eugene, and Pedro meant to be permanent (e.g. they can call down the lightning any time they need, whether or not Billy is there), or was it a temporary arrangement just to defeat Sivana and the Deadly Sins?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[stargazer01]

Question: is the endowment of the SHAZAM power on Mary, Freddy, Darla, Eugene, and Pedro meant to be permanent (e.g. they can call down the lightning any time they need, whether or not Billy is there), or was it a temporary arrangement just to defeat Sivana and the Deadly Sins?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

good question... I assumed they will have it again because they have a lair, but I don't know exactly how or when..

[Wildling]

Question: is the endowment of the SHAZAM power on Mary, Freddy, Darla, Eugene, and Pedro meant to be permanent (e.g. they can call down the lightning any time they need, whether or not Billy is there), or was it a temporary arrangement just to defeat Sivana and the Deadly Sins?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Should be permanent. Old and hurt Shazam passed away as soon as Billy transformed. His staff stayed, but even after Billy broke it in two to thwart Sivana's plans his new family didn't power down. They were also all over the ending and the credits.

At this point even if Billy was some kind of Not There, they should all be able to yell the word and transform.

[Buried Alien]

good question... I assumed they will have it again because they have a lair, but I don't know exactly how or when..

Should be permanent. Old and hurt Shazam passed away as soon as Billy transformed. His staff stayed, but even after Billy broke it in two to thwart Sivana's plans his new family didn't power down. They were also all over the ending and the credits.

At this point even if Billy was some kind of Not There, they should all be able to yell the word and transform.

Yeah...I was uncertain because Freddie looked so uneasy in the cafeteria at the end when the bullies accosted him again before Shazam (Billy) and then Superman showed up. I thought that knowing he had some Shazam power of his own, Freddie wouldn't have looked so worried.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Jim Kelly]

Let's do a thought experiment and ask what if SHAZAM! had been called CAPTAIN MARVEL, while Marvel's movie had to be called somthing else, such as CAPTAIN AVENGER. For instance, maybe there was a legal battle between DC and Marvel over the trademark that was decided in DC's favour back in the 1990s and Marvel (going bankrupt) wasn't willing to fight over it anymore. How would the different names have affected the box office for each of these movies?

I think that Marvel's movie would not have been hurt--and calling Carol the Captain Avenger might have made the connection to the Avengers even stronger--her movie might have even had more of a bump from ENDGAME, not less. However, I think DC's movie would have got a huge bump in its box office, being associated with the Marvel movies just when ENDGAME was about to open--and the Billy Batson picture might have been higher in the box office when ENDGAME debuted last weekend.

Of course, this what if is cheating a bit, since there are lots of other consequences that would have come from DC winning the trademark rights. If they had held onto "Captain Marvel" and not leased it back to Marvel Comics, they probably would have gone harder on publishing the comics and trying to get a movie made, since that name would have more value. But that's a much bigger question for another day.

[Gaastra]

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Yeah, as John Campea says in the video above, it's not surprising that a Shazam sequel isn't a slam dunk.

However, because of the kids' ages, they do have to make a decision sooner than later.

I think what WB will probably do is get the Black Adam movie made and see how well THAT does.

If it does well, then the Shazam sequel could be Shazam vs. Black Adam, which should do better at the box office.

On the other hand, Black Adam hasn't even started production yet, and who knows if it ever will given that this is DC Films.

But, if BA does get made and they hold off Shazam 2 until after, then the kids will be around 4 years older. Star Asher Angel will be 17 in a few months, so I would guess that if there's no definitive answer about a Shazam sequel in the news by the end of this year, it simply will not happen -- at least not with the same kid-cast.

That might be a way for WB to buy themselves more time. It will be no problem to keep Zachary Levi around for years. Levi will be 39 in September. However, to solve the problem of aging kids, WB could choose to recast any kid that starts looking too old for the ages they want them to be.

So, it is possible to have Levi as the constant, but have new kids each movie or two so that you can take time making them and not have to rush the sequel into production.

Also, if a Shazam sequel is never made, that doesn't necessarily mean the end of Captain Marvel appearing in movies. He can still show up in a JLA movie or cameo in another hero's movie.