The approval of the Warner Bros. Discovery superhero sequel hastened China’s recent reopening to Hollywood superhero films.
According to sources familiar with the decision, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods has secured a release date in China. The DC superhero sequel will be released in the country on March 17, the same day it will be released in North America. Regulators are expected to make an official announcement soon.
The release of Shazam! continues China’s recent reopening to Hollywood imports, which began with Beijing’s decision last month to lift its two-year ban on Marvel film releases. Disney’s Black Panther 2 will be released in China on February 7, followed by Ant-Man 3 on February 17.
Despite the huge popularity of star Dwayne Johnson in China, Warner Bros.’ previous DC superhero title, Black Adam (2022), never opened there.
In 2019, the first Shazam! film, starring Zachary Levi as the titular character, earned $43.8 million of its $366 million global total in China.
The sequel follows Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids as they struggle to balance their adolescent selves with their superhero alter egos. The children find themselves in a fight for their superpowers, their lives, and the future of their planet when the Daughters of Atlas, an angry trio of ancient goddesses, land on Earth.
The box office in China has begun to produce some of the record-breaking profits it was renowned for before the pandemic. When it arrived there late in 2022, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water was the first major Hollywood tentpole to debut in the nation in months. The movie has made $243 million in China, which is a sizable sum but slightly less than was anticipated due to decreased theater attendance during its initial weeks of release as a result of the massive COVID wave that swept the Middle Kingdom when the nation ended its COVID zero policy. But during the opening weeks of 2023, Chinese moviegoers ignored their health worries and flocked back to the theater in droves around the Lunar New Year vacation. Zhang Yimou’s Full River Red and the sci-fi sequel The Wandering Earth 2 were China’s two largest holiday films, earning $530 million and $430 million, respectively.
