‘Shazam!’ continues DC Comics’ winning streak with $53.5M opening - Global News

Seven films in, the DC Extended Universe is finally flying with some wind behind its back. The well-reviewed, relatively modestly budgeted Shazam! debuted with $53.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, handing DC its latest critical and box-office success.READ MORE: Pop culture expert Adam Pottier looks at the history of comic icon Shazam!Though one of the oldest characters in DC’s superhero stable, Shazam! doesn’t boast the name-recognition of Batman or Superman. But by scaling back to a $100 million budget and going for the lighter, comic tone, Shazam! steadily built up its word of mouth with stellar reviews. Warner Bros. also showed the film nationwide two weeks before opening, where it made $3 million in advance screenings.The film was shot in Toronto, Ont., and, according to mayor John Tory, spent $55 million and employed more than 3,000 people, making it one of the biggest products in the city in the last year.Shazam! was one of the largest & most exciting productions we’ve hosted in Toronto this past year. This production spent more than $55 million in Toronto, employed thousands of our best talent & is further proof of Toronto’s success as a top destination for film production. pic.twitter.com/dCkZ9REp72— John Tory (@JohnTory) April 5, 2019Story continues belowShazam! came out well ahead of the weekend’s other top draw, Pet Sematary. Paramount Pictures’ remake of the original 1989 Stephen King adaptation opened in a distant second with $25 million. It’s a solid start for Pet Sematary, though far from the haul that the last big-screen adaptation of King’s conjured up: It opened with $123.4 million in 2017.Last week’s top film, Dumbo, slid steeply in its second week. Landing in third, the Disney live-action remake dropped 60% with $18.2 million.WATCH: Is Shazam worth seeing?

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April 08, 2019 at 05:19AM