The current era of the DC Extended Universe may end sadly, and this week Shazam! Fury of the gods on the way under expectations. After $11.7 million on Friday, the film is expecting a disappointing $30.5 million in its opening weekend. Except for releases in the middle of a pandemic Suicide Squad ($26 million) and Wonder Woman 1984 ($16 million), this is the lowest opening for a DCEU film, behind even Predator birds$33 million, opening 2020.

For comparison, the first Shazam! the film earned $53.5 million in its opening weekend of 2019, on its way to finishing $140 million domestically and $366 million worldwide. The sequel received noticeably less enthusiastic reviews, although it cost slightly more than the first film at $125 million compared to the original’s $100 million. Warner Bros. didn’t quite throw it to the wolves, although the studio appears to be putting their money into the future Flash. Originally scheduled for release in December, Fury of the gods was delayed for several months to avoid competition from Avatar: Path of Water. But instead, he now has to face competition from two remaining hits - Creek VI And Creed III.

Fury of the godsThe disappointing debut comes at a time when the DCEU is being retooled for the future under new co-CEOs. James Gunn And Peter Safranmanagement. Gunn wasn’t going to do more Shazam films, although he noted in his announcement video that the series exists in its own corner of a larger universe, implying that it can continue without affecting the overall story. Starring Zachary Levy as the titular superhero, the Shazam films were intended as a lighter alternative to the more grungy DCEU origins. The first film received a solid A CinemaScore, while the sequel had to settle for a so-so B+.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Image via Warner Bros.

Now the second weekend is underway, the sixth film in the cult scream The franchise is expected to bring in $17.5 million as it ranks second. It beat expectations on its opening weekend when it netted a $44 million franchise in three days. Creek VI currently earned $76 million domestically and will pass the fifth screama lifetime haul of $81 million in the next few days. Creek VI also passed the $100 million mark worldwide, and is set to surpass the fifth film’s lifetime gross of $137 million soon. The benchmark for a long-running franchise remains the original’s worldwide gross of $173 million in 1996.

Meanwhile, Creed III dropped to third place with an estimated $15.3 million in its third weekend. It takes rocky The spin-off has a domestic revenue of $127 million. Setting a franchise record in its opening weekend, Creed III already surpassed the first Credo$173 million worldwide and on track to overtake Creed 2the global catch to date is $214 million.

Fourth and fifth place went to Sony’s sci-fi film about dinosaurs. 65and Disney Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania, respectively. Bye 65 The second weekend is expected to bring in $5.5 million. Ant-Man 3 it is expected to gross $4 million, bringing its current net worth to $206 million. It remains to be seen if the film can surpass Ant-Man and the Wasp$216 million domestically over a lifetime though with $453 million worldwide passing through either Ant-Man The film grossed $519 million for the first film and $622 million for Ant-Man 2 — looks extremely unlikely at the moment.

John Wick: Chapter 4 will easily top the box office next week, with the franchise’s projected debut. You can watch our interview with the star Keanu Reeves here and stay tuned to Collider.