The DC Extended Universe is soldiering on after a less than stellar year in 2016. Financially speaking, bothBatman V Superman: Dawn of JusticeandSuicide Squadcrushed it, but they seriously divided fans and were generally trashed by critics. Still, there are a lot of projects that the studio is still working on, one of which is the long-in-developmentShazam movie. Now it looks like the movie may have finally found a director in the form ofDavid F. Sandberg.
The Wrapis reporting thatDavid F. Sandberg, who had a major breakout last year with his horror movieLights Out, is in negotiations with the studio to helmShazam!.Sandbergalso hasAnnabelle 2coming out this year and since both that movie andLights Outwere done for New Line, which is whereShazamis happening, it makes sense that they would turn to him. Not necessarily because those horror movies speak to what they are looking for in aShazammovie, but because he has proven he can make them a lot of money. Also, a lot of studios take directors who have mostly worked on smaller movies successfully and plop them into a massive tentpole like this, so this report makes a lot of sense.
Aside fromDavid F. Sandberg, it was recently rumored thatSan AndreasdirectorBrad Peytonwas also in the running for the job.Shazamhad been sitting on the shelf without much movement for a very long time, even thoughDwayne “The Rock” Johnsonhas been attached to star as the anti-hero Black Adam for a few years now. However, in recent months there has been some movement and most recently, it was announced that the studio is planning on making aBlack Adam solo movie, in addition toShazam.
SinceThe Rockhas become such a massive star in the few years since it was announced he was going to be portraying the anti-hero Black Adam, it has been a little unclear how they are going to handle the character onscreen. Last month,Dwayne Johnsonimplied that he feels the character is a hero, even though he is very much a villain in theworld of DC Comics. Recently, during a monthly Q&A on his YouTube channel, he doubled down on those comments, explaining their take on the character a bit in addition to flat out saying he thinks Black Adam is a hero. Here is what he had to say.
“It’s really our interpretation, and who we deem a hero. Yes, of course, in the mythology Black Adam is a villain. Or he can be considered an antihero. Or to some, he’s a hero. To some who have a black heart like me [laughs]. Again, I love the backstory that he started off as a slave and he was held down. And I think when that kinda backstory about a man who’s held down and he rises up out of that to become greater and then dealing with the conflict of pain of losing his family, it’s dark, but it, uh, also adds to the gravity and adds to the weight of the story. So what does it mean for the movie? It means the movie’s gonna be fantastic and it means that it’s gonna be badass. And it means to me, uh, he’s a hero.”
Currently,Shazamis set for an June 29, 2025, release date. Assuming Warner Bros. and the creative team behind the movie want to stick to that, they are probably going to have to get the ball rolling soon. If they can close a deal withDavid F. Sandberg, that would certainly be a step in the right direction. The tricky part isThe Rock’s insane schedule and slate of upcoming projects, but things could always wind up getting shifted around to make room forShazam. Outside of theShazamsolo movie, it was recently teased byDwayne JohnsonandHenry Cavillthat Black Adam andSupermanwill be going toe-to-toe at some point. Maybe that could happen in theBlack Adammovie? In any case, after a very long time in development, theShazammovie finally seems to be coming together.
