By Well, they’ve finally done it. The DCEU has now released two movies in a row that are both successful at the box office and with critics. Shazam! pulled in a respectable $53.4 million this weekend (and another $3 million from the early Fandango screening) and also got great reviews from the critics and audiences. This could finally be the true rebirth of the franchise and its all thanks to them actually having some fun instead of floundering in the doom and gloom of Zack Snyder. Who would have thunk it?
The positive word of mouth should mean that the superhero movie has decent legs as well and should end up with a tidy sum by the time Avengers: Endgame comes out and completely usurps every other movies box office. It’s a strong release window for the movie, which should sit atop the box office for at least one more week.
Meanwhile, right in line with expectations, and giving Stephen King his second biggest box office ever, was Pet Sematary pulling in $25 million. That’s definitely a big success for the movie even if audience reactions to the film weren’t too great with only a C+ CinemaScore. Then again, with the ending of the film, can you blame folks for coming out of the theater a little depressed? It should also have a nice run, however, as there’s not much competition for it in the weeks ahead.
Final note is the hard drive that Dumbo took this week. With a 60 percent drop off, Disney is looking at a bonafide flop. This is a pretty terrible box office for one of their remakes and they’ll struggle hard to recoup the costs of the film. I doubt that will slow down the live-action remake parade, as Lion King is sure to destroy the box office, but maybe Disney will be a little more careful with what they do with their classics now.
1. Shazam! – $53,450,000
2. Pet Sematary – $25,000,000
3. Dumbo – $18,224,000
4. Us – $13,813,000
5. Captain Marvel – $12,682,000
6. The Best of Enemies – $4,500,000
7. Five Feet Apart – $3,700,000
8. Unplanned – $3,200,000
9. Wonder Park – $2,040,000
10. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – $1,985,000
