David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods was released and the director is opening up about the heavy criticism against the DC film.Sandberg took to Twitter to note that he had just gotten his “lowest critic score” on Rotten Tomatoes which stood at 52% at the time of this post. The filmmaker also noted that the superhero sequel had the “highest audience score on the same film” with 88%.“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,” he tweeted.For comparison, Shazam! got a 90% from critics and an 82% from audiences for the film released in 2019. Although audiences gave the sequel a high score, that number is not translating to the box office. Shazam! Fury of Gods opened to $30.5M this weekend, below the projection of $35M, which was already on the low side.Sandberg also revealed that after the DC film, he was taking a step back from more superhero movies and getting back into the horror genre.“As I’ve been saying for a while now I’m very eager to go back to horror (as well as trying some new things). After six years of Shazam, I’m definitely done with superheroes for now,” he added.Sandberg continued, “Just to be clear, I don’t regret even for a second making the Shazam movies. I’ve learned so much and gotten to work with some truly amazing people. Will forever be grateful that I got to direct two of these! They’ve been very challenging but valuable experiences.”The director said he was “disconnecting from the superhero discourse online” as it stresses him out.Sandberg’s tweet came after star Rachel Zegler also called out the criticism the movie has had.“Some people out there and just being… senselessly mean. And it’s unnecessary. And I know, I know, ‘If you can’t handle the heat…’ and all that nonsense, and you’re right. But our film is actually very good, it’s just cool to hate on fun nowadays. That’s okay. We’re good,” she tweeted.
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