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rogbngp
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2018
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I'm not sure Shazam can be said to have "under-performed"... it was never meant to be a tent-pole "event" type of movie, and seems to have done quite well; in line with its budget.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/04/25/box-office-captain-marvel-shazam-spider-man-avengers-endgame-wonder-woman-black-panther/#5ff9d1f21da9
My own theory is that the GA has developed a strong appetite and taste for the following recipe:
- sense of realism, the film conveys a feeling that it could exist in the real world--and as such takes the subject matter seriously
- genuine stakes
- spectacle via lush CGI
- epic, larger than life, extra-ordinary events, a sense of 'magic'
Which is why Aquaman basically succeeded so well. And why Endgame will make $3B.
There's so much excellent content to watch on home theater now that to get one's butt in a theater chair a film has to deliver in those ways. Shazam feels more like something you can watch at your leisure on the small screen. After you catch up binge watching Game of Thrones or what have you. I'm just proposing that perhaps many of the GA probably felt that way, more or less. It didn't feel like a film that one had to run out to the theater to see. And it looks like it'll translate fine to the small screen to be streamed down the road. That's how I felt about Ant-Man and the Wasp, and it's how my wife and I watched it.