'Shazam!' set to topple 'Dumbo' from the top of the UK box office

It looks like Warner Brothers has finally shaken off its comic-book curse. Following the inevitable success of Wonder Woman, which was followed by the astonishing success of Aquaman, the DCEU’s successful run continues with Shazam! (look, we’re pretending Justice League didn’t happen, okay?).

The film will top the UK box office this weekend, if tracking company Applaudience is to be believed. The cinema data experts are predicting the Zachary Levi superhero comedy will lead this weekend’s box office, with a predicted gross of £3.4m.

Shazam! has managed to pre-sell 53,000 tickets, (average ticket price of £10.82), totalling £580K in pre-sales, giving a forecast of £3.4m this weekend.

Read more: ‘Shazam’ compared to ‘Big’, ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘The Goonies’

That means it’ll nudge Dumbo off the top spot, putting the DCEU’s latest instalment ahead of other new releases, Paramount’s Pet Sematary and Entertainment One’s Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun, with Marvel’s latest superhero blockbuster, Captain Marvel, rounding off the top five.

And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving movie, with Shazam! combining elements of Big and Ghostbusters to create a fun family blockbuster that’s surprising, fun and – occasionally – very scary.

Riffing on everything from the wider DC universe to Harry Potter (seriously), we’d predict that this weekend’s box office predictions are just the start of a run that’ll see the film passing the one billion mark before its cinema tour ends.

Read more: Zachary Levi hints Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Black Adam’ not guaranteed

Here’s the synopsis:

We all have a superhero inside of us — it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson’s case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he’ll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam’s magical abilities.

Shazam! is in UK cinemas tomorrow.