Shazam! Fury of the Gods was originally intended to be released on December 21 of this year, before being pushed back to a March 2023 release slot. Ever since the reshuffling at Warner Bros. following its merger with Discovery, the slate of the DCEU has been in a state of flux. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was previously going to be released during Shazam’s new opening window, but the film needed further work and was pushed back to a release date of December 25, 2023.

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Perhaps due to Aquaman 2’s need for more time in post-production, some have speculated as to whether Shazam also needed more time in its post-production stage. According to Sandberg, he had even seen rumors claiming that Shazam 2 needed to be ‘retooled.’ He flatly denied those rumors and dispelled other claims that more filming would need to take place before the film hit theaters next year. Sandberg stated that the final cut has been “locked” for “some time now” and said that the Shazam 2 production crew is actually hard at work finalizing the mix, color, and VFX shots for the movie.

He further elaborated that “everyone” is happy with the film as it currently stands, and that the release date shift did not mean that the crew was going to take more time to complete it. Sandberg assured fans that the reason for the release date shift was because “they” (presumably meaning the studio) felt that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s previous release date was better for Shazam 2’s performance. Lastly, he reiterated that there would be no more filming done on the movie.

It’s quite clear why the studio may feel that a later release date may be better for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Though the first Shazam film performed well at the box office and with critics, the sequel’s original release date placed it squarely at odds with Avatar: The Way of Water, which is set to release on December 16, 2022, and is already making waves with speculation about its performance.

As the sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar 2 is a big film to have to perform against. Shazam! Fury of the Gods may well have toppled Avatar, but moving it ultimately keeps the box office from being split in two, as the films would have competed for the Christmas box office take.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods releases in theaters on March 14, 2023.

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Source: David F. Sandberg/Instagram