Shazam ($366 Million Worldwide Box Office)

Back when Warner Bros. unveiled that substantial slate of upcoming DC movies, the studio gave Shazam an April 5, 2019 release date. Perhaps over four years is long wait for a film that already has a key cast member attached to star, but I never really thought much of it until Dwayne Johnson suggested we might get to see the film sooner than expected while attending the Academy Awards.

Here’s what Johnson told MTV:

“Well, you know, it may happen a little earlier than what has been predicted. The script is coming in, it’s great, the support from the studio has been great, and it’s just a great opportunity especially with Black Adam where you can take a guy who starts off as a bad guy, turns into an anti-hero, we can make him vicious, a little bit of winking charm.”

Nothing is official until the studio deems it so, but if things are moving along well with Shazam, it’d make sense for Warner Bros. to bump the release date up. Normally we’re dealing with the exact opposite scenario. A studio locks a release, development doesn’t go as planned and the release is delayed to allow for more time to, perhaps, work on the script, but if the Shazam script is coming along well this far in advance, why wait to roll into pre-production and then shoot the film?

But, if that happens, odds are, another film will have to be pushed back. Clearly that’s not happening with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman both have start dates and Aquaman seems to be pretty far along as well, so that leaves The Flash. Yes, they’ve got Ezra Miller, but perhaps the script isn’t progressing as well as Shazam’s.

Of course this is all just speculation until Warner Bros. makes it official, but release dates are shuffled all the time so if the material is ready to go, I wouldn’t be surprised if the studio went ahead and pulled the trigger.

WyldeMan wrote:I'm tired of hearing all about The Rock, am I the only one that remembers Shazam isn't all about Black Adam? Why cast the guy FIVE years in advance? They better get moving on this cause by the time it comes out, I might hate The Rock and wish for his retirement.

joey con carne wrote:Justice League: Apokolips 2029

joey con carne wrote:Haha I just really hate that they keep pushing shit back and back. God damn, I'm not gonna be young forever. I feel like I'm gonna be 50 by the time anything of substance comes out.

It just frustrates the shit out of me that DC just takes forever and drags their feet. Man of Steel was 2013. The new Batman and Superman movie is 2016. When is Mang of Steel 2 going to come out? 2019? At the rate they are going, they will have one movie every three or four years. What exactly takes them so long to get projects going?

Batman Superman is coming in 2016. I keep hearing how they are setting the field for a Justice League movie. What a joke. I can see it now - after this Batman Superman movie comes out in 2016, the next installment of any DC superhero movie will be in 2019 (Shazam? Mang of Steel 2?) and you just know all the other movies will be pushed back. Wonder Woman will be in 2022, a reboot of Green Lantern is 2024, Justice League in 2027. And then if my dreamlist of movies up there comes out, it will be closer to 2040.

Talking to MTV News to promote the release of Furious 7, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was asked how work is progressing on the highly anticipated DC Comics movie which is currently scheduled to be released in 2019. "No, we haven’t picked a Shazam yet, and we have been working on the script. Half the scripts [have] already come in. Fantastic, very excited about it. And what I’m really excited about is — because, again, I’ve lived with this character, and this opportunity for almost 10 years now, so it’s like, in my DNA! I’m like a little kid, and it’s the opportunity to create his journey, but that journey has to start out properly." The actor then went on to talk more about his portrayal of his villainous character. "And starting off properly is [Black Adam] not being a hero. That’s got to be earned, so he starts off as a slave. And he’s pissed off, and people are going to pay. But eventually down the line he’ll become an anti-hero." 

Tyger wrote:Booooooooo

It has finally been confirmed! Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be sharing the same skies as the heroes of the DC Film Universe in 2019 when he suits up to take on the role of Black Adam in SHAZAM!

 Since its announcement, it's been rumored that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's upcoming DC film SHAZAM! would be part of the DC Film Universe. There have also been doubts as to whether or not the film would tie-in with the current DC films due to the fact that Johnson’s production company Seven Buck Productions is developing the film along with New Line Cinema. Well, the rumors can finally be put to rest, because it's been confirmed that SHAZAM! will be joining the DC Film Universe.

During an interview with Newsweek, Dany Garcia, Johnson's manager and co-producer, revealed that Shazam and Black Adam will be sharing the skies with the Man of Steel. “Shazam! is to live in the same world [as the other films] but we have incredible autonomy over this brand and franchise," said Garcia. "We are working with a different team, different producers, directors… it’s a different set-up."

Garcia went on to address the backlash from Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, and how it could affect SHAZAM! “We don’t feel fettered by, or constrained by, the successes or failures and challenges of the other projects. That was a key component to our participation—that we be able to control the tone and the voice, and do it the way we want to.” 

Just how connected will SHAZAM! be with the current DC films? According to Garcia, the film will be part of the DC universe, but it will also maintain its own separate tone. “It needs to be of the world,” says Garcia. “You’ve got Justice League, Wonder Woman with a different director, so you’re going to see different points of view. I think by the time we land with [Shazam!] we’ll fit nicely within the world that’s been created, but not such a shorthand relationship. [It’ll be] enough that people say, ‘Oh, this is within the family,’ but the culture will be a little different.”

When asked about the film's current status, Garcia revealed that they're carefully working on the script and getting it right. “We’re getting [script] drafts in… it’s important to make sure we get the tone right for Black Adam, which is Dwayne’s part. We don’t mind taking our time. We’re being very careful with each act and scene to go back and layer in as much as possible.”

The New Line DC property Shazam! has morphed into two pictures. Black Adam has proved vibrant enough to become its own film, to star Dwayne Johnson. He was excited enough about his meeting last week at the studio to tweet his happiness, after a hard shoot on the newest Fast & Furious installment. It is looking like yet another franchise for the big man.

Ever since he was dubbed “franchise Viagra”, Dwayne Johnson has been one of the most in-demand performers in Hollywood. So it’s no surprise that he was scooped up years ago by Warner Bros. and attached to star in one of its DC Extended Universe films, Shazam. That project recently went through a pretty major evolution in that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema decided to split Shazam into two movies, one focusing on the titular hero, and one focusing on the anti-hero/ Shazam’s nemesis called Black Adam. Johnson is attached to play Black Adam in that film, and while development on these movies continues with no release date yet set, Johnson has been thinking about who he wants to square off with onscreen, and he recently revealed a highly tantalizing name.

The hero Shazam, also called Captain Marvel, is able to wield enormous strength , speed, and mental abilities. It’s an enviable role for any superhero-looking actor, and when We Got This Covered asked Johnson who he’d like to see play Shazam in the DCEU, he offered up a pretty exciting pick:

“I’m gonna throw one name out here and I wanna see how the fans are gonna react ot this. A guy who I met, after I met him I was like, ‘Man that guy’s such a cool guy, he’s a lot bigger than I thought he would be.’ And when I walked away I remember telling our who I’ve worked with for a long time, Hiram Garcia—we both looked at each other and were like, ‘Possibly Shazam?’ I’m not even gonna tell you his name, I’m just gonna say Lone Ranger.”

Shazam!, the story about a boy who transforms into Earth's mightiest mortal, looks to be the next DC Cinematic Universe movie, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

David F. Sandberg, the filmmaker behind upcoming Annabelle: Creation, will direct the feature that hails from Warner Bros.' sister division, New Line. The project is looking to go before cameras in January or February of next year with a likely release in 2019, according to sources.

Peter Safran, who worked with Sandberg on the Annabelle sequel and is also producing Aquaman, is in negotiations to board Shazam! as producer.

It is unclear whether Dwayne Johnson, who has long been attached to play Shazam! villain Black Adam, will be involved with the project. But he is attached as star and producer of the Black Adam spinoff being developed concurrently to Shazam!

Warners is feeling revived in its DCU with the stunning success of Wonder Woman, and earlier this week slotted two DC movies on the release calendar for 2020. It has several films queueing up on the runway, but at this stage, Shazam! will take off first. Flash was delayed by a lack of a director, while a sequel to Wonder Woman is only in the early treatment writing stage. Joss Whedon is overseeing postproduction and reshoots on Justice League and won't be ready to tackle a Batgirl film until after the former is out the door. A sequel to Suicide Squad, which is closing in on a helmer, is eyeing a mid-2018 start.

New Line is high on Sandberg, who it proudly sees as a homegrown talent. The Swede was making horror shorts in his apartment using his iPhone when one of them caught the eye of the studio, which then adapted it into the 2016 surprise hit Lights Out, which he directed. That led to the company putting him on the Annabelle sequel, which screened to a standing-room-only crowd as part of the fan-tastic festivities at San Diego Comic-Con. New Line has also been holding sold-out preview screenings around the country.

To go from iPhone filmmaker to a full-blown DC movie director in a scant three or four years is itself a Shazam!-like transformation.

UltimateMarvel wrote:A Shazam movie without Black Adam, way to go DCEU.

Zachary Levi, most known for his role as the title character in NBC’s Chuck, is now taking on the titular role in New Line’s upcoming DC superhero film Shazam! Directed by David F. Sandberg, the story centers on teenager Billy Batson, who can transform into an adult superhero by saying the name “Shazam!”, which is an acronym for ancient gods and historical figures Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.

Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke wrote the screenplay adaptation, which is being produced by Peter Safran.

Shazam! joins the slate of newly launched DC property titles, which includes the Joss Whedon-directed Batgirl and Dwayne Johnson-starring Black Adam film, which originally was going to be part of Shazam! until the studio decided to give it its own platform.

Levi, who’s no stranger to playing characters with supernatural abilities with roles in Disney/Marvel’s Thor and NBC’s Heroes Reborn, is repped by UTA.

Rusty wrote:Yeah he is.

Fandral the Dashing