Following the billion dollar Aquaman movie, up next for DC is Shazam! with tracking suggesting an estimated opening weekend box office of around $40 million – $45 million.
I actually think the estimate is on the low side, but bear in mind the flick has a lower budget than any of the big tentpole DCEU films, so the box office doesn’t have to be super high. A $55-70 million opening would be better, I think.
Next week also sees the Shazam! advance Saturday screening (tickets now on sale), which will give the film a slight boost. Hopefully, the flick is pretty good, so word-of-mouth will probably help things. I’m going to see it that Saturday and will report back my thoughts.
I also think WB should have released Shazam! earlier than its April 5 release date, which has a lot of competition surrounding it with Disney’s Dumbo a week prior, Pet Sematary on the same day, Hellboy the week after, and of course Avengers: Endgame opens April 26.
WB should have released Shazam! a week or two after Captain Marvel, as the latter isn’t that good of a movie and no other movies are out. Shazam! looks like a really fun flick, and it could have been the “Jumanji” to Captain Marvel, as Jumanji actually outperformed Star Wars: The Last Jedi back in December of 2017 and almost hit a billion dollars. Similar to Captain Marvel, The Last Jedi also had a lot of controversy and wasn’t a very good movie, which is why audiences embraced Dwayne Johnson’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The same could have happened with Captain Marvel (obviously still can).
If the Shazam! U.S. box office is rather lukewarm, let’s hope the international box office is strong, which helped movies such as Aquaman and Venom, and by the looks of it Captain Marvel as well.
