Warner Bros.' upcoming Shazam movie has an official, if vague, release date of 2019. That's a long way off, and would likely mean that production would happen in 2017. Maybe, however, that's just filler on a calendar and not an honest representation of reality. Dwayne Johnson was stopped by MTV on the Oscars red carpet, and he said "It may happen a little earlier than what has been predicted. The script is coming in, it's great..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ghT7KWXsUE Once again, you'll have seen Johnson refer to Black Adam as an 'anti-hero" there, this time specifying that he "starts as a villain." This isn't how I remember the Shazam comics at all, and I wonder if it's just Johnson exhibiting a bias, as actors are supposed to do, or if there's been some rewiring here to make their big name star the centre of the story. Could this even lead to Billy Batson being the supporting character, in a sequel if not the first film? Seems crazy, but Johnson's a genuine box-office draw. There's no way that Warner Bros.' many-yeared schedule for superhero films is going to stay the same all the way to release, there are just too many variables. The only question, I think, is what changes will happen, when and why. I guess we should keep an open mind as to when Shazam will be rolling out.
Brendon Connelly has been a film writer since the early 90s, with time on the staff of Orbit Magazine, Slashfilm, Bleeding Cool, Den of Geek and many more. He's a long time teacher of film studies and practical filmmaking classes, and has directed music videos, commercials, short films and more. His favourite film is Terry Gilliam's Brazil, his favourite food is pancakes or crepes, and he tries to live his life by the teachings of Kermit the Frog.
