Shazam! 2 Director Claims He Is ‘Done With Superheroes for Now’

Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg is “done with superheroes” for the time being, and is looking forward to going back to his horror roots. After a not-so-impressive box office opening for DC Comics’ latest film, the filmmaker took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the critical and audience reception, particularly the Rotten Tomatoes score. He noted that Shazam! 2 marked his lowest career critic score — 53 percent — but also the highest audience score 87 percent, claiming that he’s been wanting to disconnect from the superhero discourse online and that “it will be nice not having to think about that anymore.”

The sequel to 2017’s Shazam! fell short of expectations, grossing reportedly $65.5 million (about 541 crore) at the worldwide box office during its opening weekend. Only $30.5 million (about Rs. 252 crore) came from within the US and Canada, while the remaining $35 million (about Rs. 289 crore) was pooled in from areas outside. The former figure is one of the worst openings for a DC Cinematic Universe film in the US, disregarding pandemic releases such as Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.7 million/ about Rs. 138 crore) and The Suicide Squad ($26 million/ about Rs. 215 crore), both of which premiered on HBO Max alongside their theatrical releases. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now showing in theatres only.

“On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film,” Sandberg said. “I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.” For comparison, 2017’s Shazam! has a 90 percent critics score, amped up by an 82 percent audience score. “As I’ve been saying for a while now, I’m very eager to go back to horror (as well as trying some new things). After six years of Shazam, I’m definitely done with superheroes for now,” he added. Sandberg noted that he doesn’t regret a second working on the Shazam! Movies and that he will forever be grateful. Prior to his DC Comics work, the filmmaker was known for his work on horror films such as Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out — the latter feature was based on his own 2013 short film. It seems that’s where the director is headed now, besides making occasional content for his YouTube channel, of course.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was reportedly budgeted at $125 million (about Rs. 1,033 crore), with director Sandberg previously claiming that the character could survive in James Gunn’s DC overhaul if enough people go watch the movie. “What I’ve been told is that there’s nothing in the Shazam films that contradict the future plans for DC,” he responded to a fan, last month. It is unclear how the box office figures affect these plans, as Gunn prepares to kickstart his new DC Universe saga, ‘Gods and Monsters.’ One thing is for certain: Sandberg won’t be involved, for a while.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now playing in theatres worldwide. In India, Shazam 2 is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.