Shazam! Flies into theaters April 5 and rides a wave of hope and newfound optimism in the DCEU, but just how high will he go?
The DCEU is riding a wave of optimism and box office success after Aquaman grossed over 1.1 billion globally. Next on the docket is the superhero coming of age story Shazam!
For those unfamiliar with the comic character, it follows Billy Batson who is granted the power to transform into the titular hero whenever he yells out the word Shazam! The film has been described as Big meets the superhero world, and the trailers have been putting a focus on the fun and funny. So just how much will Shazam! earn at the box office?
Now it should be noted that no DCEU film has earned under $229 million domestically and four of the six films all earned over $300 million domestically. As of right now the early tracking as presented by Box Office Pro is showing the film opening to around $48 million and earning $144 million in the US. Now, this on the surface may look bad, as it would be the lowest grossing DCEU film yet.
However there are a few considerations, the David Sandberg directed film was made on the cheap. With a reported budget of around $80-90 million which is insanely cheap when it comes to superhero films.
With a budget of that size, to be a success Shazam! would only need to earn $100 million-plus at the domestic box office to be a success. However, looking at the evidence it seems that the film may be shaping up to be a success. Now not everything is rosy, Shazam! has the misfortune of releasing right between Captain Marvel, Hellboy, and Avengers: Endgame. Giving it roughly a month after Captain Marvel and a month before Endgame to earn the lions share of its money.
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Shazam! Has been cleverly going with a guerrilla marketing campaign, using more TV trailers and social media postings then full on trailers. Also, the trailers have been promoting the fun buddy banter and relationships over large-scale action and excitement, with there being a full month still to go it is very possible we could be getting a full trailer released before the film arrives in theaters
Now looking at an opening of around $50m, then a week of around $10 million a day, followed by a second weekend with a drop of 60 percent would give us a grand total of $110 million domestically by its second weekend and $140 million by the end of its third weekend. Looking at these guesses I would hazard that Shazam! will have earned more or less than $150 million by the time Avengers: Endgame is released, if it lives up to this articles projections then it will be safe to say that Shazam! will be a success. Plus there is the possibility that it could pull a Deadpool or Aquaman and pullout from the crowd and earn way more than expected.
What do you think? Can Shazam! survive Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame? Let us know in the comments.