Something that should be pretty different from the other DC Universe films moved into production last week which New Line has now officially announced and that’s worked out well for Shazam. The announcement has netted us the synopsis for the film below and with it having a lot of kids in it due to the main character being young himself there’s hope for something a bit lighter and more inspirational, which is reinforced in the press release that say that it’s “firmly set in the DC universe but with his own distinctly fun, family centric tone.”
It’s set for release on April 5th, 2019.
The character of Batson derives his powers by saying the phrase, “Shazam” which is an acronym of the ancient world gods and historical figures Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury, which them transforms him into the adult form.
The film is being directed by David F. Sandberg who had great success with Lights Out and Annabell: Creation, which made $303 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.
The cast includes Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson / Shazam, Mark Strong as Thaddeus Sivana, Ron Cephas Jones as the ancient wizard Shazam, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield,
Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vazquez, Marta Milans as Rosa Vazquez, David J. MacNeil as Mr. Bryer, and Lotta Losten.
Plot Concept: 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).
