Warner Brothers announced a full slate of DC Comics movies back in 2014, but things haven’t gone terribly smoothly. Several films have been shuffled, put on the back burner or removed from the schedule entirely. ‘Shazam!‘ is one such project, that has undergone massive changes. From the first announcement, it was rumored that box office superstar Dwayne Johnson was attached to play villain Black Adam. This was later officially confirmed, only for that to change. Instead of appearing as the heavy in ‘Shazam!’, Johnson’s Black Adam is getting his own movie. Likewise, numerous directors were said to be attached at different times, with David F. Sandberg finally landing the gig.
In 2014, ‘Shazam!’ was announced to be released on April 5, 2019. With all the behind-the-scenes shifting, it would be a natural assumption that this date might change, or more specifically, pushed back to allow Sandberg time to prep, but that isn’t the case.
“April 2019,” Sandberg said when asked on Reddit. He added, “It takes a long time to make VFX heavy movies.”
Henry Gayden (‘Earth To Echo’) provided the script. The film is due to begin production in February.
No castings have been announced, but most recently it was rumored that the choices for Shazam had been narrowed to wrestler John Cena and TV actor Joshua Sasse. His alter ego, Billy Batson will be played by a child/teenager. Without Black Adam, it’s unknown what threat this new hero will have to face, but it’s been said that this film will be lighter in tone than the previous DC movies.
“Based on the DC Comics character “Shazam!” Billy Batson becomes Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal when he says the magic word “Shazam! The name is an acronym for six gods and heroes of the ancient world as well as their attributes: The wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.”
(NOTE: This synopsis is either out-of-date or inaccurate, as the character is no longer referred to as Captain Marvel, to avoid confusion with Marvel Comics’ hero of the same name.)
‘Shazam!’ will be released in theaters on April 5, 2019.
Source: Batman News
