‘Shazam!’ sequel tops N.America box office but lacks magic

LOS ANGELES — "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $30.5 million opening, but that represented a sharp drop-off from the original blockbuster and analysts called the result disappointing.

"This is a soft opening for a non-Marvel superhero follow-up, down substantially from 'Shazam 1,'" said industry analyst David A. Gross. Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the worst starts for a major Hollywood superhero film."

The original "Shazam!" enjoyed a $53.5 million opening in April 2019, while the sequel, a DC Studios/New Line production distributed by Warner Bros. and starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Adam Brody and Rachel Zegler, cost more than $110 million to make and has had tepid reviews, according to Variety.

Last weekend's top film, "Scream VI" from Paramount and Spyglass Media, slipped to second place, at $17.5 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Skeet Ulrich star in the latest edition of the horror series.

Also slipping one spot to third was United Artists' boxing drama "Creed III," with an estimated take of $15.4 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. First-time director Michael B. Jordan also plays the title character, Adonis Creed.

Sci-fi thriller "65" from Sony and Columbia Pictures took fourth place, at $5.8 million. Adam Driver plays a pilot whose spaceship crashes on an unknown planet, which turns out to be the Earth of 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs still ruled and an extinction-level asteroid was approaching.

And in fifth place was Marvel and Disney's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," at $4.1 million. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly star.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• "Cocaine Bear" ($3.9 million)
• "Jesus Revolution" ($3.5 million)
• "Champions" ($3 million)
• "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($1.9 million)
• "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" ($1.5 million)

— Agence France-Presse