Director David F. Sandberg reveals he’s done with superhero movies after fans got “very crazy and angry” over Shazam: Fury of the Gods. Shazam was one of the few DCEU characters who got their own movie without any connection to the Justice League before James Gunn’s DCU rebooted the franchise. Shazam! holds an extraordinary 90% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, standing at the third spot in the DCEU’s Rotten Tomatoes rankings. On the other hand, Shazam: Fury of the Gods holds a 49% Tomatometer on the thirteenth spot, just above Justice League‘s 39%.
In an interview with GamesRadar, Shazam! and Shazam: Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg revealed he no longer wants to make a superhero movie following Shazam: Fury of the Gods‘ poor reception. Sandberg explains that the immense pressure and harᴀssment he experienced while helming his second DC movie made him wary of making “another IP-based movie because it’s just not worth it.” However, Sandberg took on his upcoming Until Dawn project because the movie adaptation isn’t “trying to recreate the game.” Read David F. Sandberg’s full comments:
“I mean, to be honest, fans can get very, very crazy and very angry with you. You can get, like, death threats and everything so after Shazam 2, I was like, ‘I never wanna do another IP-based movie because it’s just not worth it,’ but then I was sent this script, and I was like, ‘Ah, this would be so much fun to do, to do all these kinds of horrors? I kind of have to do it, and hope that the people see what we’re trying to do and like it.’ I really thought it was brilliant of the writers to come up with this time loop idea where the night starts over because then you do kind of get that feel of the game, when you’re replaying it and making different choices. I think it’s very much in the spirit of the game.
What I loved about the script [is] that it wasn’t trying to recreate the game.”
What David F. Sandberg’s Shazam Comments Mean
Shazam Didn’t Fulfill His Full Potential In the DCEU
Shazam is one of the oldest superhero characters in the comic book medium and usually one of the most powerful heroes in DC Comics. David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! did a good job adapting the character to the big screen for the first time, but Shazam: Fury of the Gods struggled to meet expectations. Unfortunately, the Shazam sequel focused didn’t bring enough fresh ideas to the table, and the DCEU’s decreasing goodwill discouraged audiences from giving it a chance. With every DCEU installment getting increasingly negative reviews, the most vocal fans must have taken Shazam: Fury of the Gods‘ flaws too personally.
David F. Sandberg’s roots lie in the horror genre. The director’s fondness for horror can even be seen in several Shazam! and Shazam: Fury of the Gods sequences, particularly in Doctor Sivana’s seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins and the тιтanides’ mythological creatures. Sandberg returns to his horror roots with Until Dawn, which offers a new angle at the video game it’s based on.
Our Take On David F. Sandberg’s Shazam Comments
David F. Sandberg And Shazam’s Movie Future Doesn’t End With The DCEU
David F. Sandberg has showcased his directorial skills with Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation, and a variety of horror shorts. Sandberg will continue his directorial career with Until Dawn and the Netflix horror thriller Below. Meanwhile, the DCU gives Billy Batson another chance to be a relevant superhero despite Shazam: Fury of the Gods‘ negative reception. It may take a while for characters like Shazam and the Flash to appear in James Gunn’s DCU, but they may be adapted more faithfully sooner rather than later.
Source: GamesRadar
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