Warner Bros. is making several changes to its upcoming release schedule. It was announced today that Shazam: Fury of the Gods, starring Zachary Levi as the titular hero, will now hit theaters on March 17, 2023. This pushes the film back four months from its original holiday season release date of March 21. December 2022. The film is the follow-up to 2019's Shazam and will fill the release date of James Wan's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was moved from its March 17 release to a release much later on Christmas Day. on December 25, 2023.
Warner Brothers and DC released the official trailer for 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods', a sequel to 2019's Zachary Levi Starrer Shazam. Unlike most dark-themed DC movies, 'Shazam' was on the bright side, bringing some much-needed comic relief to the superhero content of DC, and the sequel promises to do the same.
Director: David F. Sandberg
Writers: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan, Bill Parker
Stars: Zachary Levi, Grace Caroline Currey, Helen Mirren
Directed by David F Sandberg again, 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods picks up from where the first movie left off: all of Shazam's foster siblings gain superpowers and the kids fight crime as a family. But two gods are not happy with the new superheroes and seek their powers. Helen Mirren plays Hespera, a Hela-like villain, along with Lucy Liu... and they both look awfully good in the teaser. So it will be a great duo against the Shazam kids. And… there are dragons!
Although the three-month delay of the Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a sudden change, not without some positives that have come out of this move, one of which is that the image of the superhero no longer competes with Avatar: The Way of Water, which will be released in theaters. a week before the previous release date on December 16. With Shazam! Fury of the Gods isn't that close to the expected follow-up to Avatar either, it also means the DC movie will get access to Imax screenings that would have been occupied by James Cameron's sequel. Deadline also points to the success Matt Reeve's The Batman had this year with a similar release in March, opening with $134 million before finishing with $369.3 million.
In addition to these release date changes, Warner Bros. Discovery has also announced that two films originally announced for release on HBO Max will now be released in theaters. These films are New Line's reboot of House Party directed by Calmatic and produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, as well as Evil Dead Rise directed by Lee Cronin. These movies will now open in theaters on December 9, 2022 and April 21, 2023, respectively. These announcements come on the heels of major cancellations like Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, as well as the widespread removal of animated series from HBO Max due to the streaming service and Discovery+'s merger.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is set to see many sides of the original movie return with Asher Angel once again playing Billy Batson and Zachary Levi playing the titular Shazam. Cast members Jack Dylan Grazer, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen and Jovan Armand, with superhero versions of these characters played by Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Ross Butler and D. J. Cotrona. Grace Caroline Currey will also reprise her character from the first film, as well as the superhero version of her, replacing Michelle Borth. Along with the returning cast, the film will also introduce new characters played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler.