“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is a new film in the DCEU and the sequel to the 2019 film “Shazam!”.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film.
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a 2023 American superhero film
- It is based on the DC Comics character Shazam
- Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Studios, the Safran Company
- Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- It is the sequel to Shazam! (2019)
- And the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
- It is directed by David F. Sandberg
- The film is written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan
- It stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou and Helen Mirren
- In the film, Billy Batson / Shazam and his foster siblings fight the Daughters of Atlas
- A sequel to Shazam! began development shortly after that film’s release in April 2019
- With Gayden returning as writer
- Sandberg and Levi (Shazam) were also set to return by that December
- The title and rest of the returning cast were confirmed in August 2020
- With Zegler, Mirren and Liu cast as the daughters of Atlas in early 2021
- Filming began that May in Atlanta, Georgia
- It concluded in August
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods premiered at Fox Village Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles on March 14, 2023
- It was theatrically released in the United States on March 17
- The film received mixed reviews from critics
- They praised its humor and performances
- But they criticized its screenplay, with critics stating it lacked the heart of the first film
- Made on a $125 million budget, Shazam! Fury of the Gods has earned $11.7 million at the box office so far
- With the successful opening of Shazam! in April 2019, Henry Gayden was revealed to be returning to write the script for a sequel
- Director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran were also expected to return
- According to Sandberg, the plot point of Fawcett City, Philadelphia being trapped under a dome was inspired by The Simpsons Movie (2007)
- Later that month, Michelle Borth, who portrayed the adult superhero form of Mary Bromfield in the first film, said she signed a five-picture deal for the role and was expected to return for at least one sequel
- Zachary Levi confirmed in June that he was returning to star as Shazam in the sequel, and revealed that writing had begun ahead of a planned filming start in mid-2020
- Sandberg and much of the first film’s crew were confirmed to return in December 2019, when New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures scheduled the sequel for release on April 1, 2022
- This was delayed in April 2020 to November 4, 2022. due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- In October 2020, the release date was once again shifted to June 2, 2023
- Later release dates were December 16, 2022 and December 21, 2022
- In August 2022, the final release date of March 17, 2023 was announced
- In June 2020, Marta Milans confirmed that she would reprise her role as foster mother Rosa Vásquez from the first film, and revealed that filming had been delayed by the pandemic
- The film’s title was revealed to be Shazam! Fury of the Gods during the virtual DC FanDome event in August 2020
- With returning cast members confirmed including Asher Angel as teenager Billy Batson and Levi as his adult superhero counterpart, Jack Dylan Grazer as Frederick “Freddy” Freeman and Adam Brody as his adult counterpart, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley and Meagan Good as her adult counterpart, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi and Ross Butler as his adult counterpart, and Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña with D. J. Cotrona as his adult counterpart
- The next month, Levi said filming would begin in early 2021
- The film’s release was delayed again in October 2020, to June 2, 2023
- The following month, Mark Strong said he was waiting to hear if he would be returning as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana in the sequel
- In January 2021, Good said filming would begin that May
- Rachel Zegler was cast in an undisclosed “key role” the next month
- Following her exhaustive filming schedule for Maria in West Side Story (2021), Zegler booked a meeting with the DCEU casting director Rich Delia, who was thinking about her for Kara Zor-El / Supergirl in The Flash (2023)
- Zegler lost out to Sasha Calle, but Delia told her that he thought that she could audition for Anthea in the Shazam sequel
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zegler read on for the role through Zoom with Sandberg and Dylan Grazer, doing a chemistry test with the latter, who was instrumental in her casting due to Safran giving him the option to choose and Dylan Grazer chose Zegler out of admiration for her work in the West Side Story (1961) remake
- Safran was producing the film through his company the Safran Company, while Geoff Johns was also set to produce
- Johns was ultimately credited as an executive producer
- In March, Helen Mirren was cast as Hespera, a daughter of Atlas, with Zegler reported to be playing Hespera’s sister, Anthea
- Lucy Liu was cast as Kalypso, another daughter of Atlas, the next month
- Strong said in May that he would not appear in the sequel
- Cooper Andrews was confirmed to reprise his role as foster father Víctor Vásquez from the first film.
- Chris Morgan contributed to the film’s script
- Early during the film’s development, Sandberg wanted to bring back Mister Mind, a villainous character teased in the mid-credits scene of the first film whom Sandberg voiced, for the sequel in a bigger role
- But his inclusion was ultimately dropped due to it requiring too much of the film’s runtime, aside that he had to drop several other elements to not “overstuff” the film
- In addition to bringing Gal Gadot back as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, Sandberg initially planned to have cameo appearances of Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman and Bruce Wayne / Batman by showing Superman unsuccessfully trying to break the dome while Batman just stands there and looks at Superman
- In June 2022, Sandberg revealed that Benjamin Wallfisch was unable to return as composer from the first film due to scheduling conflicts, with Christophe Beck replacing him for the sequel and already beginning work by then
- A single titled “Shazam! Fury of the Gods (Main Title Theme)” was released as a digital single by WaterTower Music on February 23, 2023
- The soundtrack album was released on March 10
- In the United States and Canada, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was initially projected to gross $35 – 40 million from 4,071 theaters in its opening weekend
- The film made $11 million on its first $3.4 million from Thursday night previews
- Thus lowering weekend estimates to $30 million
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 54% rating
- Based on 161 critics’ reviews
- With an average rating of 5.8/10
- The website’s consensus reads, “More unfocused and less satisfying than its predecessor, Shazam! Fury of the Gods still retains almost enough of the source material’s silly charm to save the day”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100
- Based on 45 critics
- Indicating “mixed or average reviews”
- Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale
- In January 2023, DC Studios CEO James Gunn stated that he was interested in retaining Levi, alongside other select DCEU cast members, for the upcoming DC Universe (DCU), which is intended to succeed and soft reboot the DCEU
- However, Sandberg stated in February 2023 that Levi’s future in the DCU could depend on the reception of Fury of the Gods
Got anything to add?