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WB's SHAZAM 2 starring Zackary Levi (4/1/22)
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“Shazam!” screenplay writer Henry Gayden has been tapped to write the DC superhero movie’s sequel for DC and New Line, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. The filmmaking team of David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran are also expected to return.

 

The writer has a busy slate as he is also adapting “Last Human,” a live-action science fiction film from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller based on the forthcoming novel of the same name by Lee Bacon, which Sony/TriStar have won in a bidding war. The film is described as a “reverse ET” and tells the story of an artificial intelligence society where three robots discover a human child.

 

“Shazam!” is directed by David F. Sandberg and also stars Jack Dylan Grazer, Michelle Borth and Djimon Hounsou. Gayden’s credits also include “Earth to Echo” and is also adapting “Last Human,” a live-action science fiction film from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller based on the forthcoming novel of the same name by Lee Bacon

 

Edited by Bosco685
release date posted
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1 minute ago, Red84 said:

I would think that before he starts writing he needs to be told whether he has Black Adam in the sequel or if Black Adam is getting his own movie.

You may not have seen Dwayne Johnson's post yesterday.

 

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9 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

You may not have seen Dwayne Johnson's post yesterday.

 

I didn't. So it sounds like there will be a separate Black Adam movie. So the expected release dates of the Black Adam movie and Shazam 2 would determine whether he will be in it or not. 

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11 minutes ago, Red84 said:

I didn't. So it sounds like there will be a separate Black Adam movie. So the expected release dates of the Black Adam movie and Shazam 2 would determine whether he will be in it or not. 

Dwayne Johnson is co-producing all three movies. Supposedly, he wanted Shazam first. Then Black Adam to give this character enough attention. Then the big conflict comes in Shazam 2 between them.

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Screenwriter Henry Gayden:

 

Q. One thing about the film I loved was that it was really clever. There's a lot of little bits, such as the Shazam! and Sivana speech bit. Was that your doing or something that existed before?

GAYDEN: That was during post. It was during reshoots. [David] Sandberg sent me some previs and he was like, "Okay, in the final battle we have Sivana and Shazam! in the air and you need to write dialogue for that." And so they had it all laid out, all staged, and they sent me this video and it just said "Dialogue here" and it showed the shots. And, someone put wind in and I was like, "Oh my God, there's all this wind!" Like, if someone hadn't put that wind tile in it never would've been born. But, I just heard this wind and I was like, "Oh my God, they can't hear each other. Of course." So, then I just wrote this big baroque speech from Sivana that then you cut to Shazam! and he can't hear and it was great and they shot it. Then, in editing, Sandberg added one or two more cutbacks to make it even funnier. And, it was just a beautiful part with everyone contributing and building to make what is probably one of the best jokes in the movie, if not the best one.

 

Q. At the end there's a significant moment when all the kids are granted the same powers as Shazam! I'm curious if this was always the intent and was it something you focused on when building the kids early on in the film?

GAYDEN: Y'know, I would not say it was the priority notecard that I put over my computer every day. And yet, when you watch the movie it crescendos in such an effective and wonderful way. We knew starting from Sivana coming on board as the main villain we knew we were going to do that, because we had room to do that and that became very exciting. But, we sort of had build the characters already and we had to further define them even more and had to give them a little more so that when we meet Darla and she's super fast, you get that this is the younger Darla. It was not a happy accident. It was very deliberate what we were doing and yet it just kind of came together very organically through the writing and casting of those great actors. And, suddenly, you have a foster home with all these people that we love.

 

Q. Where would you like to take Shazam! next?

GAYDEN:That's a really good question, because a lot of his personal story is really tied up at the end of this film. What excites me most is seeing that family as they are at the end of that movie with their new powers and how they continue together. That is most exciting to me. I don't have a specific.

Gayden's next -script, THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, an American Grafitti/Slasher film being directed by Patrick Brice is in preproduction for Netflix and he's currently working on an adaptation of LAST HUMAN at Sony for directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

 

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Producer Peter Safran:

 

Q: Why was Geoff Johns' New 52 Run the right source material to kick off Shazam?

SAFRAN: We felt that Geoff Johns had really laid out a great storyline with Billy in particular, the foster family-There have been a lot of different origin stories to who Billy was over the years, since 1940, and we felt this was the cleanest and most organic and really a smart way to go; Billy searching for his mother, put into a family he didn't want to be a part of and ultimately, at the end, discovering that family is really about bond and not blood. It just felt like a very good touchstone. Obviously, we move away from it in many regards, particularly with Sivana, but we felt that it was a really good core, baseline to build from and we're all very happy that we did so.

 

Q: As someone helping to shape the future of the DC Universe, what would you say the future holds for these films?

SAFRAN: I think the future is extremely bright for the DC World in general. I loved WONDER WOMAN, I love AQUAMAN, I think SHAZAM! is great. You've got BIRDS OF PREY, the second WONDER WOMAN, BATMAN, SUICIDE SQUAD, THE JOKER, which was such a great -script, great star, great director. I think that they really have their mojo back and are heading in the right direction and the philosophy is develop great scripts with great filmmakers and go make great, individual movies without worrying about having to tie all these things together in some larger manner. So, I think the future of DC is really bright.

 

Q: Although he's not featured in this film, it feels like Black Adam would be the most obvious choice to face off with Shazam! in a sequel. Is there any thought to how or if he'd play a part in Shazam!'s next chapter?

SAFRAN: You know, my instinct, and this is really just instinct at this point, is that until he's done a standalone movie we won't bring Shazam! and Black Adam together. That's my instinct. So, right now as I sit here, I suspect that there will be a standalone Black Adam movie and then at some point he and Shazam! will face off.

 

Q: Are there any other characters or comics that you'd like to bring to the big screen that haven't been realized yet?

SAFRAN: Sure, absolutely. I probably shouldn't mention them, because it would seem like I'm asking DC to hand them over to me. They have such a great, diverse group of characters, both well known and lesser known in their library and I think there are tremendous storylines to be told with so many of them. Obviously, one of the ones that I want to most was SUICIDE SQUAD and I brought James Gunn into that mix and obviously we're making that in the fall. So, I think I will target and cherry pick those ones that I think are really special and hopefully find a way to work with Warners and DC on them.

 

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Jerad Marantz worked in the costume department on Shazam! and recently posted on Instagram about his gratitude for the opportunity. In response, fellow art department member Federico Cervantes posted that the two might get back to work on an updated costume for the sequel in the near-future.

 

 

No announcements have been made about a sequel to Shazam! just yet, but considering the critical reception to the first film, the audience response, the budget, and its success at the box office, it seems like a no-brainer to continue down this path while the DC Cinematic Universe continues to recalibrate.

 

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1 hour ago, Callaway29 said:

Black Adam and Shazam sequel are one in the same, right?

No. One is a dedicated Black Adam movie happening next, and then Shazam 2 afterwards that may or may not bring them together.

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1 hour ago, Bosco685 said:

No. One is a dedicated Black Adam movie happening next, and then Shazam 2 afterwards that may or may not bring them together.

Interesting. I thought black Adam was starting to film “in about a year” according to the rock (recently stated in an interview), which would put Shazam 2 on the exact same schedule...? Don’t understand the rollout of these two films...

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21 minutes ago, Callaway29 said:

Interesting. I thought black Adam was starting to film “in about a year” according to the rock (recently stated in an interview), which would put Shazam 2 on the exact same schedule...? Don’t understand the rollout of these two films...

Me neither. (shrug)

I really do wish WB would allow a DC comic book executive to represent these better. Like when they had Geoff Johns do that 30-minute TV special about the films.

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Oh wow! I just assumed the plan was Black Adam and then Shazam 2 to match these characters against one another.

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Zachary Levi’s Shazam and Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam won’t clash until Shazam! 3, some time after studio Warner Bros. launches Johnson’s own DC Extended Universe-set solo franchise.

 

“I can say that as far as I know, Black Adam is not going to be in the second Shazam!, because the idea is that they want to go and do a standalone Black Adam movie first,” Levi said during Germany’s CCXP Cologne convention.

 

“And then it would kind of be, if we do a third Shazam! and a second Black Adam, kind of [parallel] like that, that’s where we would [meet].”

 

Black Adam has been Shazam’s archenemy for decades, first emerging during the time the magic-powered superhero was known as the original “Captain Marvel.”

 

Because Black Adam draws his powers from the Egyptian gods — similar to teen Billy Batson being endowed with the power of the Greek gods when selected as the champion of an ancient wizard — Teth-Adam is the “ultimate” adversary for Shazam.

 

According to Levi, the franchise would peak if a crossover happened prematurely.

 

“Because he’s like the ultimate bad guy for Captain Marvel, Shazam. Like [Shazam and] Black Adam, they’re doppelgängers right, the evil twin to who I am. So that’s got to be like the final battle,” Levi said.

 

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Shazam! director David F. Sandberg hints its sequel will explore more of the “Shazamily” — the now super-powered foster siblings of Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his adult-sized superhero alter ego (Zachary Levi) — who could face off against Mister Mind.

 

“It feels like we could do more with the Shazam family. We just introduced them, but you could explore how they work as a family of heroes,” Sandberg told Backstory Magazine when asked about plot threads that could develop further in a sequel.

 

“And we threw in a little mid-credits scene with Mister Mind, and you could go down that road. Or you could introduce another villain. There are plenty of ones to choose from in the Shazam world.”

 

Because Sandberg didn’t want to “hold back” and wait for a sequel, Shazam!’s third act endowed Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), Mary (Grace Fulton), Eugene (Ian Chen), Pedro (Jovan Pena) and Darla (Faithe Herman) with the same magical abilities that transform Billy into Shazam, making for a flying, fighting family of superheroes.

 

“I saw a lot of speculating online about the kids turning into their adult counterparts. But people thought there was no way we’d do that in the first film, that we’d save it for the sequel or somewhere down the line,” Sandberg said.

 

“But for us, it was like, no, let’s do the best we can right now. I think that’s a better way to go. You never know if later is going to happen, so you shouldn’t hold back for no reason. Plus, the movie builds on this family theme, and the big payoff is that anyone can become a superhero, no matter your background.”

 

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