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Things aren't looking too good for the upcoming DC film Shazam 2 as netizens have already predicted the film to be a massive box-office tragedy even before its release. The movie is a sequel to Shazam!, which came out in 2019.
The story follows teenager Billy Batson, who has been chosen by ancient wizard Shazam to be his new champion; all the former has to do is say the name "Shazam," which allows him to transform into an adult superhero.
Reportedly, $100 million was spent on making the movie but fans are convinced that box-office failure is inevitable from day one of the film's launch. They are not too excited since according to many, the CGI is not up to the mark.
Even the budget is pretty low compared to the money DC typically spends on superhero-genre films. Several are not at all convinced by this revelation and think that the hype is false.
"A low budget Superman is just Shazam 2 or worse": Upcoming DC venture already tipped failure following budget reveal
Variety predicts that Shazam 2 will earn just between $35 million to $40 million domestically for its opening weekend. The original movie, which came out in 2019, opened to $53.5 million.
To handle large-scale sequences and VFX, a film is supposed to have a huge budget, much more than $100 million. For comparison, below are the total budgets for some previously released DCU films:
- Justice League - $300 million
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: $263 million
- Black Adam - $260 million
- Man of Steel - $225 million
- The Batman - $200 million
- The Suicide Squad - $185 million
- Aquaman - $160 million
- Wonder Woman - $150 million
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods - $100 million
- Shazam! - $85 million
- Birds of Prey - $82 million
This particular revelation has angered several fans and they are not particularly interested in watching the film at the moment. In fact, the budget for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was double, which is baffling for everyone. Check out some of these tweets below:
Shazam 2 has become a source of mockery and trolling lately as fans haven't just called the superhero a low-value Superman but also stated that its a shame that DC spent more effort on Flash and Aquaman 2, instead of the upcoming film.
Fans are also bothered by the fact that the film will not be in 3D, unlike the first installment. Two separate trailers were released for the film to build hype on both, but both were subjected to backlash and criticism.
What is Shazam 2 all about?
Shazam 2 or Shazam! Fury of the Gods stars Zachary Levi and Asher Angel as Billy Batson/Shazam, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Frederick "Freddy" Freeman, Rachel Zegler as Anthea, Ross Butler and Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Lucy Liu as Kalypso, Djimon Hounsou as Shazam the wizard, and Helen Mirren as Hespera.
The official synopsis of the film reads as:
"From New Line Cinema comes “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” which continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!,” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam."
Shazam 2 will be released in theaters all over the United States on March 17, 2023.
