After dragging behind its revival, the Marvel Universe, for superhero film supremacy, DC Comics has another hit at the box office with its latest project Shazam! pulling in $53 Million Dollars over the weekend.
According to Variety, Shazam! arrived ahead of expectations, which anticipated a start around $40 million to $45 million. The film, made by Warner Bros.’ New Line division, also earned $3 million in advanced screenings, bringing its domestic haul to $56 million. Overseas, Shazam! dominated with $102 million from 79 international markets for a global start of $158.6 million.
While the numbers of Shazam! maybe lower than the other superhero movies, the rub is that Shazam! was working with a lower budget than its predecessors.
Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution, Jeff Goldstein said this weekend’s “thrilling result” was because Shazam! doesn’t take itself too seriously. Though it’s still in the superhero genre, it feels lighter in tone than the influx of comic-book titles in theaters. “It was about having fun,” he said.
According to the description on Collider, Shazam! centers on 14-year-old Billy Batson who has the ability to shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he’ll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam’s magical abilities.
