The original Superman movie was a success. Christopher Reeve played a wholesome, upbeat hero that believed in Truth, Justice and the American way.
People loved that. They loved a hero that made them feel good. The Superman reboots attempted to capture the darkness that was the successful Batman reboot staring Michael Keaton.
Problem was, the public didn't like a dark, brooding narcissistic, fatalistic Superman who thought about suicide. Nobody wants other people's drama. The old adage, "Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone", applies here.
The DC people seem to be stuck on "dark", and cannot seem to think "Happy" or "Light".
I think you may be right about Shazam, because I expect Shazam to be happy and light, rather than dark and brooding. Maybe they will get this one right.
As someone who has been reading DC for almost 40 years now... Yes I still do read a few titles... The problem with DC is they just don’t respect the source material.
The original Superman Movie, holds up well to this day (other than the cornball ending), because it respected the source material.
The Batman Reboots that started the modern DC movie ERA largely respected the source material....
Wonder Woman, for the most part, respected the source material.
Everything else? Not so much, and that is why nearly everything else has been a dog.
The reason I think Shazam! may stick, is the fact it plays to every child’s fantasy.. Here you have some nobody kid, who suddenly has super powers. What child, or boy anyway, didn’t have that fantasy at one point or another... and here you have a story that plays right to that.
Hopefully their attempts to make it “contemporary” won’t ruin it, and let it just be a fun enjoyable ride of good vs evil.
If they do that, it could catch and surprise.