Comic-Con 2017 | David F. Sandberg Will Direct ‘Shazam’

The next DC Extended Universe movie to go in front of the cameras will be Shazam, the story of Billy Watson, a little boy who receives godlike powers and an adult-sized body from an ancient wizard. David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) will direct the film, which has been stuck in development hell since the early 2000s.

Originally published by Fawcett Comics, the adventures of the superhero named “Captain Marvel” (who received his powers from a wizard named “Shazam”) were originally filmed as part of a multi-part serial way back in 1941, just one year after the popular character made their debut. The hero gets his powers from various legendary figures, whose names form a certain, fanciful acronym: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury (SHAZAM).

Dwayne Johnson has been attached to the project since 2014 as the villainous Black Adam, and is expected to get his own motion picture in the near future. It’s uncertain whether Dwayne Johnson will first make an appearance in Shazam, which should go in front of the cameras in early 2018 and be released sometime in 2019 (via Hollywood Reporter).

Also: Comic-Con 2017 | The 15 Most Anticipated TV Panels

 

David F. Sandberg has emerged as one of Warner Bros.’ most popular directors. He adapted his own, breakout horror short Lights Out into a lucrative feature debut that is spawning an upcoming sequel, and his latest film, Annabelle: Creation, is expected to make big bucks later this summer, like all of the films in The Conjuring series have so far.

Of course, Hollywood has an excellent history of recruiting horror filmmakers to adapt their shock-and-awe storytelling styles to blockbuster superhero films. Evil Dead director Sam Raimi transformed the action-centric superhero genre into four-quadrant box office with his Spider-Man movies, Zack Snyder got his start with the Dawn of the Dead remake before he spearheaded the DC Extended Universe, and The Conjuring director James Wan is currently hard at work on the upcoming Aquaman film.

With Shazam moving into active production in the very near future, expect more updates about the cast and direction the film will take in the months to come. And keep coming back to Crave because more news is coming out of Comic-Con 2017 all the danged time!

 

The 12 Superhero Movie Announcements We Need from Comic-Con 2017:

Top Photo: DC Comics

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.

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