SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS Star Zachary Levi Believes Marketing Is To Blame For Box Office Underperformance

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS Star Zachary Levi Believes Marketing Is To Blame For Box Office Underperformance

Shazam! Fury of the Gods has failed to take flight at the box office, and star Zachary Levi has weighed-in on what he feels was the main cause of audiences' lack of interest in the movie...

By MarkCassidy - Mar 21, 2023 05:03 PM EST

2019's Shazam! proved to be a surprise hit for Warner Bros., earning highly positive reviews while going on to take in close to $370 million worldwide. So, a sequel with the same director and cast must have seemed like a pretty safe bet.

Unfortunately, Fury of the Gods came in way under its opening weekend expectations, and critics were nowhere nearly as taken with the Big Red Cheese's second big-screen outing (it's now dropped to 52% on Rotten Tomatoes).

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS Review: Superhero Sequel Plays It Safe, But Delivers Where It Counts

Director David F. Sandberg has already shared his thoughts on the movie's underperformance, and star Zachary Levi has now weighed-in while responding to a fan on Twitter.

It seems that, in addition to a vocal minority of toxic fans, Levi believes the film should have been marketed as more of a family-friendly adventure.

For the most part, Fury of the Gods is suitable for the whole family, but it is PG-13 for a reason, and contains a couple of moments that might be a little too intense for younger children.

The trailers and TV spots were a pretty accurate representation of the movie, so we're not really sure what promoting it as more of a kid-friendly film would have accomplished.

It can't be easy to see something you worked so hard on fail to resonate with cinema-goers, but at a certain point, you just have to throw up your hands and acknowledge that audiences aren't getting as much out of it as you'd hoped/expected.

Do you feel Shazam! 2 deserves to do better at the box office? Let us know in the comments.

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS STAR Grace Caroline Currey To Lead Remake Of Wes Craven's THE BREED
Related:

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS STAR Grace Caroline Currey To Lead Remake Of Wes Craven's THE BREED

Asher Angel Talks SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS' Struggles, DCU Future, And Scrapped SHAZAM! 3 (Exclusive)
Recommended For You:

Asher Angel Talks SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS' Struggles, DCU Future, And Scrapped SHAZAM! 3 (Exclusive)

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2 3
MrDandy
MrDandy - 3/21/2023, 5:38 PM
That is ONE of the problems but when trying to market a mediocre movie, you can’t really put all the blame on the marketing team.
dracula
dracula - 3/21/2023, 5:57 PM
@MrDandy - well worst movies have done better
Scarilian
Scarilian - 3/21/2023, 6:08 PM
@MrDandy -
It does not help that James Gunn stepped in and effectively said 'frick you, these movies don't matter and my phase starts with the movie featuring an abusive pedo & psycho rapist'
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 3/21/2023, 6:41 PM
@Scarilian - are you going to be ok?
MrDandy
MrDandy - 3/21/2023, 7:02 PM
@dracula - true. I’m not saying a good marketing team can’t polish a turd. Im just saying you can’t blame marketing for it being a turd to begin with.
Rosraf
Rosraf - 3/21/2023, 11:49 PM
@MrDandy - Please, this is quality glazed guano we're talking about.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 3/22/2023, 10:38 AM
@Scarilian - If it takes an abusive psycho and pedo to make a good DC movie....then thats a problem already with the DCEU lol

whynot
whynot - 3/21/2023, 5:41 PM
Marketing has a lot to do with it but i think most boxoffices suck because A.) the window of time before it hits streaming people feel they can just wait unless it’s a movie that might contain massive spoilers which Shazam had few of B.) Shazam isn’t a hot commodity the first one was fantastically reviewed yet people didn’t show up and that was before the age of streaming was this massive. C.) covid I guess is a factor. D.) inflation and people being broke is a factor.

But this biggest factor is the DCU reboot
Taonrey
Taonrey - 3/21/2023, 5:57 PM
@whynot - idk if A is that big of a deal, a lot for people didn't even know this movie was coming outbor when it was coming out. I highly doubt they knew when it was coming out on streaming.
whynot
whynot - 3/21/2023, 6:50 PM
@Taonrey - its not about when it’s coming out on streaming like the actual date, but marvel and DC are putting there movies on D+ and HBO within a few months after theatrical at this point so most would just wait
tmp3
tmp3 - 3/21/2023, 5:41 PM
man's gonna be doing hallmark christmas movies soon
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 3/21/2023, 5:44 PM
@tmp3 - [frick]ing hell 😂
GhostDog
GhostDog - 3/21/2023, 5:57 PM
@tmp3 - LMAO!!! I’m dying right now
Se4M4NSt4ine
Se4M4NSt4ine - 3/21/2023, 6:21 PM
@tmp3 - Jingle All The Way 3 yeeee
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 3/21/2023, 6:44 PM
@tmp3 - As the friend of the rich guy who gets the girl.
KWilly
KWilly - 3/21/2023, 6:44 PM
@tmp3 - Honestly, that may be more his wheelhouse anyway. Just the paychecks won't be nearly as big.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 3/21/2023, 6:48 PM
@tmp3 - If he can be serious he can pull off Chris Redfield if Capcom actually takes Resident Evil serious when making a live action adaption.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/21/2023, 5:42 PM
Marketing probably played a part, but it certainly can’t take all the blame.
AllsGood
AllsGood - 3/21/2023, 5:43 PM
The Truth.

Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 3/21/2023, 5:43 PM
Timing didn't help either tbh, it's a shame that they had to move their original date from the holiday season to now due to not wanting to deal with Avatar 2.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 3/21/2023, 5:46 PM
Wouldn't call it "perfect" by any means, but it sure was a harmless family superhero flick, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Can't believe we live in a day and age that "harmless" might be taken as an insult so I have to clarify that it's not, but here we are...

Now, that said, there is a point to be made about lack of promotion, but again, that was not the decisive factor by any means. Release date, imminent reboot, preceeding relevant (but not really) hero's movie, these are all factors that had more of an impact, if we're going to be all analytical about it.
Deklipz
Deklipz - 3/21/2023, 8:08 PM
@DrReedRichards - I think it’s just not that great of a movie and after the middling first movie the appetite just isn’t there with the audience. The marketing has been ridiculous, I don’t even watch regular tv or things with ads and I see it everywhere. Literally everywhere. Xbox, websites, panel ads on my devices, all over websites… I’ve seen more advertising for this then I did for black Adam.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 3/21/2023, 5:47 PM
If Snyder fans could effect the box office, there’d still be a Snyderverse.
Fogs
Fogs - 3/21/2023, 7:04 PM
@PlusUltra - best and underrated comment right here.

Take this, champ 🏆
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 3/21/2023, 5:49 PM
It’s not just one thing. It’s a myriad of reasons. But sure marketing is a reason.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 3/21/2023, 5:50 PM
@TheUnworthyThor - ITS JUST ONE THING.
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 3/21/2023, 5:54 PM
whenever someone ttries to explain the reason for the movie underperforming all i keep remind of this

MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 3/21/2023, 5:54 PM
May not be the sole factor, but I do believe bad advertising didn't do this movie any favors. Hopefully blue beetle doesn't suffer the same fate.
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 3/21/2023, 6:45 PM
@MCUKnight11 - forgot about blue beetle.
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 3/21/2023, 5:59 PM
I think the film just looked insanely mediocre. I didn't think it looked bad at all, I just didn't really feel compelled to buy a ticket.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 3/21/2023, 6:02 PM
@TheWinkler - "mediocre" has become synonymous with the genre for the past 3 years, and that's the problem studios are still refusing to accept.
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 3/21/2023, 6:12 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - I think it's a portion of that as well as genre burnout. In hindsight, Marvel should've put a full halt on the MCU for a few years after Endgame and DC should've completely halted after JL.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/22/2023, 6:24 AM
@TheWinkler - DC should still halt after The Flash and then start again with Superman Legacy: A New Hope.

But no, low budget Blue Beetle, Aquaman 2, Joker 2: The Musical, Keanu Reeves' Constantine 2, The Batman part II, etc. etc. etc.

*shrugs*
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/22/2023, 6:25 AM
DC is haunted by the ghost of Walter Hamada.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 3/21/2023, 6:00 PM
D E N I A L
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 3/21/2023, 6:00 PM
Is one of the reasons, the first movie also had zero marketing, but it was 4 years ago, before the pandemic, and with the genre still alive.

Snyder fans have zero impact on the BO (look no further than Black Adam, a movie The Rock desperately tried to sell to those fans), but this guy is mistaken trying to antagonize with them, especially because his friendship with James Gunn is well known, and people will start to asume he is saying what Gunn is thinking.

DC cant afford to stand this shitstorm THREE more times this very year, Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2 need to be announced as HBO Max exclusives ASAP...I mean, seeing the numbers and critical reception both Black Adam and Shazam 2 got, is starting to make sense why they cancelled Batgirl, Marvel is in poor shape, but DC has become a MEME.
GeneralChaos
GeneralChaos - 3/21/2023, 6:09 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - Marvel isn't really in poor shape. They've had one film in the past five that tanked.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 3/21/2023, 6:18 PM
@GeneralChaos - "one"? lol
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 3/21/2023, 6:19 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - I guess they fired Victoria Alonso because it was a boring monday.
1 2 3
View Recorder