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Bloody good film, fun to watch and a tad dark in parts that I expected the youngest to want to go home, she loved it though.

Wife and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Of course we love Zachary Levi thanks to Chuck and he was excellent.

Loved it. Rather predictable, but a hell of a lot of fun.

Good fun. Actually had to be a hero..... unlike a certain underwater based hero.

Well, the weekend box office finished ahead of most estimates. Still less than most 'big' superhero films, but it is a smaller film with only a $90 mil budget. It has an 'A' Cinemascore from audiences, which usually means good word-of-mouth and decent box office "legs". At least until Avengers arrives. Maybe it could eke out another decent week since so many Avengers showings seem sold out?

Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.

Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.

 gorgon wrote:
Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.

I think it's a humor thing. American comedy never seems to perform well there. Didn't the more comedic MCU movies also do less well in China comparatively? Guardians and Ant-Man I think. Humor seems to translate even more poorly than most things across cultural lines.

 LordofHats wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.

I think it's a humor thing. American comedy never seems to perform well there. Didn't the more comedic MCU movies also do less well in China comparatively? Guardians and Ant-Man I think. Humor seems to translate even more poorly than most things across cultural lines.

Yeah, that could be it. I'm also not sure if some of the themes of Shazam regarding foster families, etc. play the same way there, but I could definitely be wrong about that.

Spectacle may be a big factor. Aquaman had tons of it, but Shazam is a much more modest film.

 gorgon wrote:

Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.

Who would have thought Marvel would make it big with Iron Man?

A good point.

Though personally I've never felt like Aquaman deserved all the jokes that get thrown at him.

 LordofHats wrote:
A good point.

Though personally I've never felt like Aquaman deserved all the jokes that get thrown at him.

Generally true of most internet things.

 LunarSol wrote:

 gorgon wrote:

Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.

Who would have thought Marvel would make it big with Iron Man?

Oh sure. And what Marvel has built with mostly second and third tier characters is mind blowing. Gadzooks, they’re working on an Eternals movie. Eternals! Who are like the weird distant cousins of the already-obscure-to-general-audiences New Gods.

I guess I didn’t see DC pulling off similar stuff. It does seem like the lack of baggage can be a good thing for B-list superheroes, so long as you put out a reasonably entertaining film.

I rather enjoyed it. It wasn't trying to be an overly politicized social statement but rather was simply a fun super hero movie true to the off beat nature of its namesake similar to Aquaman.

I liked it (even though I was biased as from the beginning due to being a fan of Zachary Levi since Chuck). But even more interesting is the fact that my wife enjoyed it as well.

Had a few very good chuckles through out the movie. And Overall it seemed (to me) been well made.

Interestingly I found it more to be a 'classic' super hero with clear Good/Bad distinction than many other movies. And it worked.

Saw it and really liked it!

 gorgon wrote:

Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.

Ha!

Go back about 10 years and...absolutely no one would have predicted that!

I was surprised to see the Marvel family show up before Black Adam (and no, that little bit from the Wizard doesn't count!).

And Mr. Mind?

Too good...

Mister Mind blew me away. Although the presence of the crocodile men was a deeper dig into Captain Marvel lore. The stuff we see onscreen these days is crazy.

Rumor is that the plan is for Shazam!2, a standalone BA movie, and then they meet. The Rock recently said on social media that they hope to start shooting BA in about a year. I believe the writer of Shazam! has already been signed for Shazam!2...have to think they're going to move fast since the kids will grow up quickly.

Regarding Adam, although he's a very popular character, it's not like he was part of the Captain Marvel mythology right from the beginning. Sivana made sense to me as the first villain, even if he's more like the New 52 version than the classic version. And this way they get to build out a Shazamiverse just like they're building an Aquaverse through the Trench spinoff, etc.

Black Adam as we know him today is basically a wholly original DC character. He was essentially mined from obscurity when DC realized Captain Marvel vs Superman was a great showdown and needed a villain version of the concept, given basically one real story vs Billy and then sent of to be their version of Dr Doom. He's never really been a great Shazam villain and plays much better off other heroes... and other villains for what its worth.

Forgot all about black Adam, another one to look forward to!

I do think he does super villain leader of a small country better than Doom, at least in the stuff I’ve read/seen.

I kinda wish I went to see this today rather than pet semetary. I’m not going to miss out on seeing this one.

Also, I’m absolutely over the moon that DC’s pulled a hat trick. Really happy to see them on track.

I enjoyed Shazam quite a bit, went with low expectations but it had some really funny moments. Only thing I couldn't quite get over is the kid that plays Billy looks like he's Maisie Willams (GOT Arya Starks) twin brother.

Y'know, he kinda does. Huh.

Looks like current box office is around $122m domestic, $324 worldwide (off a $90m budget). Which is chump change compared to current Marvel films, but it's moving toward the general territory of some of their phase 1 entries. And it's a character people don't know very well, attached to a brand that's still rebuilding trust with audiences. So maybe it's not a home run, but it's a solid double for a franchise that really needs base hits.

I expect it'll also do very well on home video, setting up what will probably be a bigger-budgeted, bigger box office sequel. The writer and director are returning, IIRC. Think the writer may already be working on it?

I hope so. It’s one movie I genuinely can’t wait to see on home release.

Just to confirm, it was a ‘success’ wasn’t it? Because DC need them, and I feel like this one definitely deserved to be one.

Well, I saw some estimates that it'll finish near $400m worldwide. With a $90m budget, that's clearly a financial success. It also got an 'A' cinemascore from audiences and very good reviews from critics. It didn't open to huge money, but the box office has held pretty well from week to week according to how they measure such things, which indicates good word-of-mouth. So yeah, it's a success...as evidenced by them getting the ball rolling immediately on a sequel.

I haven't even had a chance to see it yet. Between illness and being away for Easter, I might not even get to see it at all until it comes out to own.

 stanman wrote:
I enjoyed Shazam quite a bit, went with low expectations but it had some really funny moments. Only thing I couldn't quite get over is the kid that plays Billy looks like he's Maisie Willams (GOT Arya Starks) twin brother.

Definitely. Looked it up check even, he's not.