It’s been a tough weekend for David F. Sandberg, with the director forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as his superhero sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods crashes and burns at the box office.
At the rate things are going, the sophomore outing for the primary-colored family will be lucky to reach $30 million in its opening weekend, a massive drop from the opening installment’s $53 million bow. Searching for the tiniest sliver of light at the end of the tunnel, the fact the second chapter cost an estimated $100 million means it doesn’t quite have to break the bank to avoid losing a fortune, but that’s hardly much of a silver lining.
Sandberg has been kept plenty busy on social media, too, whether he’s admitting that he was expecting this exact result heading into Fury of the Gods‘ theatrical debut, while also being forced to jump in and debunk accusations the top-secret DCU cameo ruined weeks ago by the marketing technically didn’t happen at all.
The filmmaker’s Reddit post reflecting on the film’s inevitable commercial disappointment ended up being taken wildly out of context after he ended his comment by joking that he’d been paid up front so it didn’t really matter to him anyway, leading to the Lights Out creator doing his best James Gunn impression to debunk his second major rumor in quick succession.
No creative mind actively wants to see their latest project fail – unless they find themselves in a heated disagreement with the studio or have it taken out of their hands – so anyone who thought Sandberg was happy to be sent laughing all the way to the bank by Shazam! Fury of the Gods flopping was sorely mistaken to put it lightly.