LOS ANGELES -- Warner Bros. has finally earned back the benefit of the doubt when it comes to its all-important superhero movies: Shazam! became the studio's third nonsequel comic-book hit in a row over last weekend, arriving to applause from critics and stout ticket sales of nearly $156 million worldwide.
"We really want these movies to stand on their own, with filmmakers best suited to the characters," Toby Emmerich, chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said Sunday. "We're all feeling deservedly really good."
Shazam! was the No. 1 movie in North America, collecting $53.5 million over the weekend, according to Comscore, which compiles box-office data. Paid previews in partnership with Fandango in late March, designed to prompt positive chatter online, added $3.33 million. Shazam! also had a solid start in countries like Mexico and Russia.
Where the PG-13 Shazam! will end up at the box office remains a bit of a question mark given the impending arrival of Avengers: Endgame. Ticket buyers gave Shazam! an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls, an indication of staying power.
The film follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a foster teenager who transforms into a fully grown superhero (Zachary Levi) when he says the magic word. The picture earned positive reviews, with an A rating on CinemaScore and a 91 percent fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, among the best yet for a DC Universe film.
Shazam! was made by New Line, a division of Warner Bros. that focuses on lower-cost films that often serve as counter programming. It was made for about $100 million -- about 40 percent less than most superhero movies.
"New Line always thought that Big as a superhero movie was a great idea, a way to make the genre feel fresh and different," Emmerich said.
Warner Bros. has started to deliver superhero home runs on a consistent basis: Wonder Woman from Patty Jenkins, Aquaman from James Wan, and seemingly Shazam!, which was directed by a relative newcomer, David F. Sandberg.
Second place at the domestic box office went to a remake of Pet Sematary (Paramount), based on the novel by Stephen King. It took in an estimated $25 million. Disney's big-budget Dumbo trundled along in third place, selling $18.2 million in tickets, for a sad two-week total of $76.3 million.
At No. 4, Universal's Us added $13.8 million in its third weekend. Rounding out the top five, Captain Marvel added $12.7 million in its fifth weekend.
STX Entertainment's The Best of Enemies opened in sixth place with $4.5 million. Starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell as a civil rights activist and Ku Klux Klan leader who form an unlikely friendship, the film earned mixed reviews, with an A CinemaScore and a 52 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Exhibitors came into the weekend with sales down 16 percent from the same period a year earlier. But on April 26, Disney kicks off the summer movie season a little earlier than usual with the release of Avengers: Endgame.
MovieStyle on 04/12/2019