Reflecting on the poor performance of Shazam! Fury of the Gods at the box office, Zachary Levi has shared multiple possible reasons behind its failure. On its opening weekend, the movie was only able to garner a total domestic collection of $30.5m, which is currently the lowest post-pandemic opening for a DC movie. And with John Wick: Chapter 4 on the verge of its release, things aren’t looking to get better for the Shazam sequel at the box office.
Although both the director and the actor blamed the toxic portion of the DC fandom for its failure, the Shazam actor also called out WB for the movie bombing at the box office.
Zachary Levi blames WB’s poor marketing for Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ poor performance
Considering that the DC universe is heading toward its reboot with the upcoming The Flash, the Shazam sequel wasn’t marketed on the same level as its predecessor. Following this, Zachary Levi expressed that despite being a perfect family movie, many families weren’t aware of the movie because of WB’s poor marketing.
https://twitter.com/zacharylevi/status/1638034731483922433?s=46&t=jenKKzWaUdVW0ZNFUDzqSA
Following the movie’s poor performance, which isn’t looking to get better, the future of Zachary Levi in the DCU remains uncertain. However, the actor is quite hopeful about his future under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Zachary Levi is hopeful about his future under James Gunn
As the DCEU is inching toward its end, it isn’t clarified how many actors from the previous universe will make their jump into the new one under James Gunn and Peter Safran. However, despite Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ poor performance, Zachary Levi is hopeful about his future in the new DCU.
Considering that the actor has been pretty vocal about his admiration for James Gunn and has been a good friend to him for years, it’s reasonable why the actor is hopeful about his future in Gunn’s DCU. And Bearing in mind that Gunn was the reason why Levi was cast as Shazam in the first place, the actor’s future in the DCU does appear safe. Levi said,
“I’ve known James for years and been a fan of his work for years. I think he’s a visionary kind of guy. He really understands world building, and I trust that they’re going to come up with some really cool avenues and directions for all of them. And wherever they collide me into them, I will be stoked.”
Following the movie’s failure, director David F. Sandberg has also decided to move forward from the world of superheroes and go back to his roots in the horror genre. But despite the movie’s low critical reception, fans will hope to witness Zachary Levi in the role in the new DCU.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is currently playing in theatres.
Source: Zachary Levi’s Twitter
