“On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets,” marvels [Freudian slip? -- Ed] a major theatrical chain insider. “It really says something when you’d rather have Shazam! 2 numbers.”

It marked one of the lowest starts in Hollywood history for a film based on a Marvel character. Domestic box office for the first six days in North America was just $26.2 million after opening midweek on Valentine’s Day. International tallied $25.7 million from 61 markets. Even the fan-friendly Cinemacore grade was poor (C+ — extremely low for a superhero title).

Like DC and the once unstoppable Marvel, Sony is now finding itself in under the gun to revaluate how it makes comic book movies.