Monday saw the official production starts of New Line Cinema’s Shazam! from director David F. Sandberg. Zachary Levi stars in the title role along with Asher Angel as his young counterpart, Billy Batson, inspired by the Whiz Comics 1940 launch from creators Bill Parker and C.C. Beck.
Scribes Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke penned the script as an origin tale that also has Mark Strong starring as the film’s principal villain, and with Toronto serving as the film’s Philidelphia, Pennsylvania backdrop. Previous rumors have stirred about as to whether or not executive producer Dwayne Johnson will make his appearance in the long held role of Black Adam for which he is expected to shepherd his own movie. I’ll leave that to the fans to contemplate but…this is the gist of it.
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).
Also starring is Jack Dylan Grazer as Billy’s best friend and ultimate superhero enthusiast, Freddy, part of the foster family that includes Mary, played by Grace Fulton, Darla, played by Faithe Herman, Eugene, played by Ian Chen and Pedro, played by Jovan Armand. Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans play foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez, with Ron Cephas Jones as the Wizard.
Peter Safram (Aquaman) is producing with Christopher Godsick, Jeffrey Chernov, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia also executive producing. Annabelle: Creation director of photography Maxime Alexandre will lens the pic with Jennifer Spence heading production design, Michel Aller on board to edit and Leah Butler tending to costumes.
Warner Bros. Pictures will arrive with the film on April 5, 2019.
