New Line’s COVID-delayed DC movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods will finally hit theaters this weekend in 77 offshore territories and the U.S. with a global outlook between $80M-$85M, $35M of that coming from domestic.

The David F. Sandberg directed sequel most recently was scheduled to open on Dec. 21, but in August last year, Warner Bros decided they weren’t going to play second fiddle to Avatar: The Way of Water, and moved the sequel to mid-March where they now have access to Imax auditoriums, as well as Dolby, PLF screens, and motion seats. Total theater count for Friday is north of 4,300 locations. Previews start Thursday at 3PM in 3,400 theaters. The world premiere of the Zachary Levi, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler movie is tonight in Los Angeles.

Families turned out for the first movie at 27% and word is that they could rep even more this time around at 50%.

Fury of the Gods will roll out overseas between Wednesday and Friday in what is projected to be a $45M-$50M international start. Wednesday includes Korea among majors (France is going two weeks later to take advantage of playing into Easter holidays). On Thursday, Shazam 2 notably hits Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Mexico while Friday adds the UK, Spain, Japan and China.

Overall, both overseas and domestic, Shazam 2 is bound to see a lower start than the 2019 original ($53.5M domestic, $102M WW) a bit of that having to do with China running cold on Hollywood fare. Let’s see if the pic overindexes and beats tracking: Both Creed III and Scream VI blew away their projections respectively with franchise high starts of $58.3M and $44.4M. Also preventing a stampede here is that Shazam isn’t your typical dark DC property, rather a silly PG-13 movie.

In terms of overseas comps, next to the 2019 film, and with previews and Russia backed out, the start was $83.5M at today’s rates. If we remove China from the equation as well, then the like-for-like launch was $55.5M at current exchanges. While Fury of the Gods is leading Friday presales in China, the same cannot be said for Saturday and Sunday. We’re looking at a potential $12M+ three-day there.

The hope here is that the family nature of Shazam 2 strikes a little bit of lightning in English-speaking and Latin American markets. The UK, Mexico, Australia and Brazil were among the best overall plays for Shazam! the first.

Cast members traveled to Rome and London for promotional events and screenings earlier this month.

Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI is looking at a -55% ease in weekend 2 after a robust $3.66M Monday. The Radio Silence directed sequel should land around $20M. MGM/United Artists Releasing’s Creed III should do between $17M-$18M, -36%.