Shazam kicks off with $ 53.5 million, giving DC Comics another win

Seven films from DC's Extended Universe finally fly with the wind in the back. Shazam, well revised and with a relatively modest budget! debuted with $ 53.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, giving DC its last critical and box office success.

Although he is one of the oldest characters in DC's superhero team, Shazam! do not boast of the recognized name of Batman or Superman. But going back to a budget of $ 100 million and opting for the lighter and comical tone, Shazam! regularly builds word of mouth with stellar critics. Warner Bros. also screened the film two weeks before it opened across the country, where it made $ 3 million projections in advance.

Shazam! Pet Sematary, one of the best shooters of the weekend. The remake of Paramount Pictures of Stephen King's original adaptation of 1989 opens in a distant second with $ 25 million. This is a good start for Pet Sematary, although far from the disaster evoked by King's latest adaptation on the big screen: it was inaugurated with $ 123.4 million in 2017.

The flagship film last week, Dumbo, fell sharply in the second week. . Coming back in third place, Disney's live action remake dropped 60% to $ 18.2 million.

Declared as "Big meets Superman", Shazam! stars Asher Angel as Billy Batson, a nurturing teenager transformed into an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi).

Jeff Goldstein, head of distribution at Warner Bros., had originally announced the studio's opening at $ 40 million. "It was the right number for us," Goldstein said. "That's what we needed to make money."

But expectations grew according to critics (91% on rotten tomatoes) and public reaction (a movie theater). The PG-13 rated film attracted a particularly young crowd; 45% were under 25 years old.

The result further confirmed DC's pivot after the disappointments of Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman and David Ayer's Suicide Squad. Since then, Warner Bros. oriented its comic book adaptations in a different direction, relying more on isolated, less universe-based and more fluctuating entries. After Wonder Woman and Aquaman, Shazam! That's three straight games for DC superheroes

Earlier in the week, Warner Bros. also criticized the release of Joker with DC, with Joaquin Phoenix, at CinemaCon. An original story in even smaller budget with a unique tone, although much darker; it was one of the most discussed movies at the Las Vegas event.

"Wonder Woman was really the beginning of the ship's transformation," Goldstein said. "When you look at each of these properties, they are all very different. Their approach is different. Their tone is different. But here are the common points: All good movies, all well done. I think what you will see from DC is very specific approaches to this property.

Abroad, Shazam! reported $ 102 million in 79 markets, including $ 30.9 million in China.

"DC has really found its rhythm," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's media badyst. "They are really getting out each character. Shazam and the Joker could not be two different characters within the DC universe. But I think the diversity of content will serve them well. "

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Dergarabedian pointed out the two most dominant genres in movies right now – superheroes and horror – invaded the theaters on weekend, taking four of the first five places at the box office. The fierce competition in similar style holds could have slightly depressed results for both Shazam! and Pet Sematary. But at the moment, there is little room on the calendar between the main comic strip movies and the horror releases.

Jordan Peele's horror thriller Us finished in fourth place, adding $ 13.8 million in the third week. Its total cumulative total is $ 216.6 million.

Captain Marvel led by Marvel's Brie Larson, who recently pbaded the $ 1 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales, collected $ 12.7 million in the domestic market on the fifth weekend of the year. end. Ironically, Captain Marvel was the original name of Shazam when he created the character in 1939, imitating Superman. It was relaunched in 1973 under the name of Shazam after decades of prosecution and the launch of Marvel's own Marvel captain.

The widely distributed newcomer was STX Entertainment's Best of Enemies, with Taraji P. Henson as a civil rights advocate and Sam Rockwell as the Ku Klux Klan leader. He opened with $ 4.5 million.

In a limited release version, High Denis, played by Robert Pattinson, opened with about $ 100,000 in four rooms for A24.

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Neon's Aretha Franklin documentary, Amazing Grace, debuted with $ 96,000 on eight sites. The film, shot for two days at the New Bethel Baptist Church in the Watts section of Los Angeles in 1972, was lost for decades in part because its director, Sydney Pollack, had not resumed the footage, leaving them alone. not synchronized with the audio. Prior to his death last August, Franklin filed several lawsuits to prevent publication.