There was a lot of excitement surrounding Zachary Levi’s Shazam! sequel before the release. Unfortunately, the excitement died down pretty quickly when the film was not up to the expectations of both fans and critics. With a 49% Rotten Tomatoes score, critics called the sequel unfocused and less satisfying than its predecessor.
The film made a little under $134 million at the box office and lead actor Zachary Levi has no idea why. In a true superhero manner, Zachary Levi is flying up to defend his second film in the DC Universe as he finally opens up about the failure that was Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Also Read: Ezra Miller’s $33 Million Movie Co-Star Was Desperate To Replace Zachary Levi As The New Shazam
Zachary Levi Defends Shazam 2
Zachary Levi appeared on The FilmUp Podcast where he discussed how Shazam! 2, a film he poured his heart and soul into, was not received well. He stated that he truly enjoyed making the sequel, he has no idea why it tanked in all ways imaginable. When asked if there would be a third Shazam! film, Levi stated that while the critics’ score was perplexingly low, the fans weren’t too kind to the film either.
“As an experience, I really enjoyed making that movie and I really enjoyed playing that part. I don’t know what the future holds for it all, because, unfortunately, the second movie was not as well-received. The audience score is still quite good, but the critics score was, I don’t know, very oddly and perplexingly low, and people were insanely unkind.”
He then clarified that he knew that the film wasn’t a hundred percent up to the mark and a lot of things were left out, it was still a “good darn movie.”
“Listen, I’ve been a part of things and as much as I wish that they were good, I know that they’re OK, I know they missed a lot. I’m not saying Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is some perfect Orson Welles masterpiece, but it’s a good darn movie.”
So while insiders blame James Gunn’s DCU reboot and/or Dwayne Johnson for vetoing ideas that would have resulted in Shazam showing up in Black Adam, Levi puts the blame on the audience for sleeping on the sequel.
Shazam! 2 Director Doesn’t Care As Much As Zachary Levi
While Levi might have gotten a bit emotional about the film’s failure, director David F. Sandberg was a little more level-minded. Replying to a thread on Reddit discussing Shazam 2’s box office downfall, Sandberg wrote,
“No worries. It’s not like this comes as a surprise. I saw where this was heading a long time ago. I’ll be alright though. I got paid all my money upfront [smiley face emoji].”
Of course, taking his words out of context, a Twitter user called out Sandberg for going ahead with the film despite knowing that it would flop, just to make some money. Sandberg had to stop the controversy before it could boil over and replied to the user stating,
The director of Shazam has also been following you on Twitter for a long time 🙂That’s not what I meant. I meant I knew what the boxoffice tracking was looking like. The pay comment was just me being cheeky, hence the 🙂
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 18, 2023
In the end, Shazam! 2’s $133 million was a lot less compared to Shazam!’s $367 million. While there may be a lot of directions to point fingers toward, the real question is when will DCU bounce back? The Flash also couldn’t reach fans’ expectations and now, all eyes are on Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which will release on August 18, 2023, and December 20, 2023.
You can stream Shazam! Fury of The Gods on Max.
Source: The FilmUp Podcast
