With only a few weeks before its debut, Shazam! may be sitting in the wake of Marvel’s Captain Marvel, but the original Captain Marvel still looks like it will have a big opening weekend.
Reports just weeks ago were tracking its opening weekend at $40 million, but positive word-of-mouth has already jumped that number up to $50 million.
After Captain Marvel’s $153 million that might not seem like a lot, but it is very promising for the franchise. Aquaman opened at only $67 million opening weekend and went on to easily pass the billion-dollar mark. But unlike Aquaman and Captain Marvel, Shazam! had a significantly lower budget. It is said to be at only $100 million, which is rather small in today’s standards. Double that number by adding in marketing and all Shazam! must do to break even is reach $200-$230 million.
Positive word-of-mouth and the foreign market practically guarantee that number is easily met. But, of course, time will tell. What do think Shazam!’s finally box office will be? Will it join the billion-dollar club?
Some fans are still confused if this film takes place in the connected Worlds of DC Universe and if it didn’t it could potentially hurt the box office due to confusion by viewers, but in a recent interview Zachary Levi has made it clear that it is:
Our movie takes place very squarely in the DC Universe. In fact, I would argue that we’re kind of the most self-aware of it because the movies that we all watch — I mean, Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman — they’re all basically documentaries in their world. These things, these are all real events that have happened. Batman and Superman fighting, Superman saving all of Metropolis, whilst simultaneously destroying the entire city — that all really happened.
Some lucky fans will get to see the movie at the early screenings March 23rd, but the real fun begins April 5, 2019 when it is officially released.
