The DCEU is currently in the middle of a massive shift. Ever since the parent company of DC, Warner Brothers conducted a merger with Discovery, there is now new management taking care of the DCEU and they are bringing in a lot of changes.
The newly formed Warner Brothers Discovery have decided that they will be developing a brand new 10-year plan for the DCEU and have been shuffling the release order of almost the projects that are currently underway, supposedly to better fit their 10-year plan. One of the changes that have occurred is the change of the release date of Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the sequel to 2019’s Shazam! which was a commercial success. The film featured Zachary Levi in the titular role and now the actor along with several cast members from the first movie is set to return in the sequel.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods was initially slated for release in December of this year but its release date has been pushed forward to March 2023. Previously, the March 2023 slot belonged to Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom but that film has been pushed forward to December 2023.
The director of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, David F. Sandberg recently took to Twitter to explain to audiences why it was strategically the right move to move Shazam 2’s release date.
Sandberg has made a valid point that the sequel to Avatar is one of the most awaited films of this year and IMAX screens will definitely have no room for any other movie during the month of December. Putting up Shazam 2 against Avatar 2 will be a strategically poor move from a profiteering standpoint as well since the first Avatar was the highest-grossing movie of all time and the second is expected to just as well if not better. While Shazam is one of the more beloved DCEU characters, it’s highly unlikely it would stand its ground against Avatar.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be released on 17th March 2023 in theaters.