‘Shazam! The Fury of the Gods’: David F. Sandberg leaves superhero cinema to return to terror

If by some chance, the story of Shazam gets to have a third part, David F. Sandberg will not be in the director’s chair..

‘Shazam! ‘The Fury of the Gods’ opened this weekend to $30.5 million at the domestic box office, considerably lower than the $53.5 million opening for the first film, released in 2019. Now, Sandberg is reacting to the reactions of the film and has explained on Twitter that he’s ready to take a break from superhero movies. The Swedish filmmaker took charge of the two installments. He is also known for horror hits like 2016’s ‘Never Turn Off the Light’ and 2017’s ‘Annabelle: Creation’.

“In Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critical score and highest audience score for the same movie. I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically, but was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good movie,” he wrote. “As I’ve been saying for a while, I’m really looking forward to getting back to horror (plus trying a few things new),” Sandberg continued. “After six years of Shazam, I’m definitely done with superheroes for now.“.

Zachary Levi once again dresses as the main hero in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’, starring alongside Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, and now joined by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler. When the first film hit theaters in 2019, it was a surprise hit that wowed critics and audiences alike (it actually earned a 90 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Response to the sequel, released this past Friday, has been considerably muted now, with the film earning a critical rating on the famed movie ratings page at just 52 percent.

‘West Side Story’ actress Zegler also weighed in on the response to ‘Fury of the Gods’, citing critics’ “nonsense” on Twitter as well as stating that “nowadays it’s cool to hate fun”.

Sandberg also added that he “doesn’t regret for a second making the Shazam movies.”” and that he’s incredibly proud of the finished product, even if he hopes to “disconnect” from the “superhero speechyes“A lot of it stresses me out and it will be nice not to have to think about it anymore,” he explained.

To the criticism of the second part, it has been added that the premiere, which underwent several changes until the tape has reached theaters, has come in full change from DC, since James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken over the studio.