Shazam! Preview Screenings Tops Aquaman in Box Office Gross

The box office numbers from early screenings have brought encouraging news for Shazam!. Box Office Mojo reports that the special preview event that took place over the weekend, promoted with Fandango, brought in $3.3 million. That’s a very good number that beats out both Aquaman’s $2.9 million from Amazon Prime screenings and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’s $2.6 million from a Fandango preview.

It’s important to note that these numbers are a varied indicator at best of what to expect when the film opens on April 5th. Early preview screenings are good for measuring fan excitement, which is definitely important for a blockbuster like this. But preview screenings are a much smaller sample size than the screnings for a Thursday previews or tracking numbers. Still, it’s a good start and the current acclaim the film has in the first reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) should held push the grosses to more than the $45 million start that tracking suggested a couple of weeks ago.

The film is expected to have a lower start than the $100 million-plus takes of DC’s highest grossers like Batman V Superman, Wonder Woman, and Suicide Squad, but also had a smaller budget at $80 million or so.