The Shazam movie has seen some ups and downs, and currently is settling on down. The project is officially stalled.
August says the project is now dead in the water after several re-writes, most of which came about after the studio wanted him to take the film from a lighter action-comedy to something much darker (a la The Dark Knight). And regarding the recent news that Segal would be directing, August notes that “press releases often have little relationship to reality.” He does admit, though, that the movie may still happen … just not with him onboard and not anytime soon.
I can’t say that I have ever been much of a Captain Marvel fan, but I had thought that Johnson was the physical embodiment of Black Adam and I was looking forward to seeing him in the role.
However, the proposed plot was to make this more of a light hearted comedy. So as it stands, I am somewhat relieved to hear that they are not going to do a “kid turns into adult superhero” plot. The source material does have little Billy Batson transformed into Captain Marvel when he utters the word SHAZAM, thereby granting him the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. When he became Captain Marvel he did not have the mind of a child. But that is how they wanted to play out his story in August’s version.
This is not quite on the same level of relief knowing that Jack Black would no longer be Green Lantern. Not quite, but close.
We may someday see this project re-opened. But its not on the top of my list.
What is ironic is the first script turned in, by William Goldman, was said to be by insiders who read it the greatest superhero script ever written, yet the powers that be rejected it for being TOO SERIOUS AND TOO DARK!!! Now they WANT serious and dark? Then just revive the Goldman draft, and they can still get the movie made by 2010…or 2012 if they want to get a new director.
We linked to Cinematical’s article on the subject, and my name is Rodney… not John.
Just sayin.
Sorry for the redundant(ish) post there… I just saw that the Cinematical article linked to John’s blog entry also.
Here is John August’s take on the story:
http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/shazam-done
His original screenplay was on the lighter side, and the studio was pushing for a darker edge (and to more prominently feature Black Adam).
@ KRISTINA
Are ‘dark’ and ‘homicidal sexcriminal’ the same thing?
This must be the least suitable comic ever for making a dark adaptation.
There’s no possible way to make a guy yelling SHAZAM into a dark movie.
It cracks me up to hear this “let’s make it dark like TDK” business. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this, and it makes no sense. Studios are thinking with their wallets and not with their brains. Just because darkness worked for The Dark Knight doesn’t mean that it will work for every comic book movie. The Dark Knight didn’t make money because it was DARK. It made money because it was GOOD, just like the sunnier Iron Man made money because it was GOOD. Batman is a dark character. It’s integral to the character. What’s good for one isn’t good for all. Who wants to see a “dark” X-Men movie where Wolverine rapes Rogue and Jean before committing suicide? Or how about a “dark” Spiderman movie where Peter Parker pimps out Mary Jane for spare cash and beats Aunt May when he sees her in a nursing home? Well, Nagy might like that one, but the general public isn’t going to go for that shit.
Shazam wasn’t really all that dark (Kingdom Come was pretty gritty) but the bottom line was that it was that when the kid become Capt Marvel, Marvel is aware of his adult form and is a different personality. Often Marvel refered to Billy as a separate person.
August’s version was like Big. The boy magically becomes an adult and comicly deals with being Earth’s Mightiest Mortal with the mind of a child.
I wouldn’t call Shazam dark, but the character of Black Adam was pretty sinister and would easily make the transition. Changing everything to “dark” doesnt mean it will be better.
However, adding that layer of realism (not darkness) to a fantasy rich comic concept is what is making this generation of hero movies a success.
Well, I never was much into the whole Shazam! thing, but I do respect it as a part of classic comic book history. Sucks for anyone who was looking forward to it, like the state of limbo I’m currently in over the whole Watchman legal rights thing.
But on a lighter note and still very much on the comic book movie level, I just saw the trailer for the new Push movie and it looks just awesome, I think it could be the next suprise comic book movie, like Wanted. It’s based on a Wildstorm, or DC comic series. Check it out: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/10/17/push-movie-trailer/
How dark would they plan to make this? I thought Captain Marvel was supposed to be one of the more light-hearted superheroes regardless.