"Shazam: Fury of the Gods" opened No. 1 in North America but underperformed with $30.5 million from 4,071 screens.
The film was expected to make $35 million to $40 million over the weekend after costing over $110 million to make and $100 million to sell.
"Shazam," Zachary Levi's first superhero film, was much better.
which opened to $53.5 million and grossed $140 million nationally and $366 million worldwide.
"Wonder Woman 1984" ($16.7 million) and "The Suicide Squad" ($26 million), both on HBO Max, were the DC Cinematic Universe's worst starts.
"Shazam 2" started poorly overseas with $35 million from 77 markets for $65.5 million.
Reviews and word-of-mouth may harm "Shazam: Fury of the Gods" this week. CinemaScore dropped from the first film's "A" to "B+."
Its Rotten Tomatoes score is 53%, down from 90% for the original. DF.
Fury of the Gods,” to some degree, is also the victim of the big reset at DC