The first announcements and news from San Diego Comic Con are coming in and one of the first announcements was what DC Comics and Warner Brothers would start cameras on next.

1982793-gee_whiz_by_docshaner_d3l7kczAccording to an exclusive story in The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers has lined up a director and producer to bring to life a big screen Shazam movie.

Shazam is the superhero alter-ego of 12-year-old Billy Batson, a homeless orphan living on the streets of Fawcett City. One night, while sleeping in an abandoned subway tunnel, Billy is summoned onto a mysterious train and led to the underground throne room of the wizard Shazam. The wizard tells Billy that he has been chosen to receive the powers of the gods because he is “pure of heart” and whenever he says the name “Shazam”, he will be transformed into the living embodiment of those powers.

Saying the name transforms Billy into the hero Captain Marvel, a full-grown man with super powers. One of the unique aspects of the character is that, despite his physical appearance, he still retains the childlike mind of Billy Batson.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has already been cast as Shazam’s nemsis Black Adam and given his own spin-off film. No word yet on whether or not he will appear in the Shazam movie. Spurred on by the success of this year’s Wonder Woman movie, Warner Brothers believes now is the best time to bring another fantasy superhero character to life on screen.

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Warner Brothers is said to be excited to bring David F. Sandberg on to direct. Sandberg is the director of the 2016 film Lights Out, based on an Iphone movie he created. His next project will be the horror prequel Annabelle: Creation which has screened to sold out crowds ahead of its release. Joining Sandberg as producer will be Peter Safran, who also produced Annabelle: Creation and is producer on the Aquaman movie currently filming.

No word yet on casting of the film’s leads, but the studio is shooting for a January 2018 start of production, so expect casting news to be made soon.

Follow me on Twitter @superpoweredfan.

1 Comment

  • Bruce

    September 5, 2017 - 5:53 am

    The new reports suggest WWE’s John Cena is also a strong contender for the role. Also, Joshua Seymour Sasse from ABC’s Galavant is also being touted to play the title character. Let’s see who eventually becomes the earth’s mightiest mortal.

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