There’s a lot of upcoming DC movies on the way, but due to a variety of factors (most of which related to COVID-19), many of Warner Bros.’ large-scale productions have seen delays in the past couple of years. Thankfully, a ton of audiences just had the chance to see the new take on The Batman this weekend, but unfortunately the studio just announced a big shake up for DC’s film slate.
Fans are going to have to wait longer for a number of films including The Flash and Aquaman 2, but on the other hand, Shazam! Fury of the Gods actually is coming sooner than previously scheduled. The sequel starring Zachary Levi is now hitting theaters this December rather than next summer. Here’s director David F. Sandberg’s reaction via Twitter:
Going up against Avatar 2. Poor James Cameron must be shaking in his boots right now....March 9, 2022
Sandberg’s comments address the fact that Shazam! Fury of the Gods will now open on the same day as James Cameron’s Avatar 2 instead of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was knocked off its Christmas season date for spring 2023. The original 2009 Avatar famously broke box office records to become the highest grossing movie of all time. Nearly fifteen years later, Avatar remains on top of global lifetime grosses (per Box Office Mojo), even though Avengers: Endgame beat it out for a moment there.
Since it’s been so long since an Avatar movie was released, it’s tough to tell how Shazam! versus the Avatar sequel will fare when they presumably go head-to-head during the holiday season slot, but given James Cameron’s track record, the DC movie could have some stiff competition.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom would have proved to be a more well-matched contender considering Jason Momoa’s 2018 outing made over $1.1 billion worldwide when the James Wan film came out just ahead of Christmas. The first Shazam! comparatively made $365 million worldwide during spring 2019. But perhaps the flip-flop will help each film in their own ways. David F. Sandberg also reacted to the shift with these words:
It's funny how Shazam 1 was a Christmas movie released in April and Shazam 2 is a summer movie getting released at Christmas. It's the Shazam way.March 9, 2022
2019’s Shazam! was set during Christmas time despite being released in the springtime and as Sandberg quipped, it looks like something similar is going to happen with his sequel. Fury of the Gods was shot as a summer movie, but it will now come out during holiday times. 2022’s slate following the recent and successful launch of The Batman will be DC League of Super-Pets on July 29, Black Adam now on October 22 instead of the summer and Shazam! Fury of the Gods closing out the year for the DCEU.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will hit theaters on March 17, 2023 instead of December, The Flash moved from this November to next summer, June 29, 2023. Here’s hoping these release dates stick. Each of these movies have had more than their share of shifts as is.
