The director of the latest superhero flop is getting candid.
On Monday, David F. Sandberg took to Twitter to share his feelings about the failure of his sequel “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” at the box office.
READ MORE: ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ Crashes At The Box Office With Estimated $30.5 Million Haul
This past weekend, the movie opened to just $30.1 million domestically, lower that initial estimates, and a far cry from the $53 million the first film earned in its opening.
Despite the disappointment, Sandberg appeared to take it all in stride, noting that though the film earn the lowest Rotten Tomatoes critics score of all his films, the audience score was his highest.
“I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well,” he wrote.
He added that he is “very eager to go back to horror,” and said, “After six years of Shazam I’m definitely done with superheroes for now.”
On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film 🤷♂️ I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 20, 2023
Before taking on the DC Studios blockbusters, the Swedish director helmed the small-budget horror hit “Lights Out” in 2016, followed by the Conjuring Universe entry “Annabelle: Creation” in 2017.
READ MORE: Rachel Zegler Calls Out ‘Senselessly Mean’ Criticism of ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’
In his thread, Sandberg continued, “Just to be clear, I don’t regret for even a second making the Shazam movies,” though he did admit, “One thing I’ve really been looking forward to is disconnecting with the superhero discourse online.”
One thing I’ve really been looking forward to is disconnecting from the superhero discourse online. A lot of that stresses me out so much and it will be nice not having to think about that anymore.
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 20, 2023
And I have it pretty easy. The most disheartening thing was seeing the comments on Leslie Grace’s instagram going “Haha your movie got cancelled!”, “you’re not my Batgirl” etc. And this isn’t limited to superhero fandom. It’s just sad.
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 20, 2023
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” was produced under the previous regime at DC Studios, but was the first film released since James Gunna and Peter Safran were named co-CEOs of the studio, with a mandate to get the DC Universe in order.