Shazam! After the Shazam sequel got terrible reviews, Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg plans to take a long break from making superhero movies.
After the first weekend of Shazam 2, Sandberg posted a series of thoughts on Twitter. In one of them, he said he wants to return to his horror roots.
On Rotten Tomatoes, I got my worst score from critics and my best score from audiences for the same movie, “Sandberg wrote. “I didn’t think the reviews would be as good as the first movie, but I was still surprised because it’s a good movie. Oh well. I’ve been saying for a while that I can’t wait to get back to horror (as well as try some new things). After watching Shazam for six years, I’m 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
Sandberg is correct that the difference between how critics and audiences felt about Shazam 2 on Rotten Tomatoes is big. The average score from critics is 52%, while the average score from more than 1,000 fans is 88%.
Before directing the two DC movies, Sandberg was in charge of the supernatural horror movies Lights Out (2016) and Annabelle: Creation (2017). Even though the director wants to return to horror, Sandberg quickly said he was glad to work on Shazam.
“Just to be clear, I don’t regret making the Shazam movies even for a second. I’ve learned a lot and had the chance to work with some great people. I’ll always be glad I got to direct two of these! They’ve been hard, but they’ve taught me a lot. I’ve been looking forward to taking a break from all the online talk about superheroes. Much of that stresses me out, and it will be nice not to think about it anymore.”
Sandberg isn’t the only filmmaker recently speaking out about bad reviews. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania screenwriter Jeff Loveness told The Daily Beast that he was “really sad” about how poorly critics received Ant-Man and the Wasp. He said, “To be honest, those reviews surprised me… I was in a pretty low place… The reviews weren’t good, and I was like, “What the…?”