Movie News: Shazam!

JaxUr

At long last, it's been confirmed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is Black Adam in the upcoming film Shazam.

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/dwayne-johnson-to-play-black-adam-in-shazam-darren-lemke-to-script-exclusive-1201294338/

bamfbamf

this is going to be a great sequel!!!

Greg

BOOOOO!!!!

kgforce

I like it. I think he fits Black Adam better than Shazam (they need to find someone younger for that part). But since this is a New Line production, I'm guessing it won't tie into the Justice League universe WB is building.

JaxUr

Black Adam via Alex Ross:

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/ww210/beamskee/BlackAdamMix.jpg

Torchsong

Keeping my fingers crossed...I like the idea of Dwayne playing Black Adam...now just get a good Batson/Captain Marvel and throw Mary and Freddy in and we've got ourselves a movie!

Mr_Cosmic

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

TheOriginalGMan

I love it. Great cast move imo.

SolitaireRose

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

You know, I'd bet they could make piles and piles of money with a Captain Marvel set up like from the 40's: Kid says a magic word and becomes a hero. He encounters all sorts of strange and wonderful things and uses his special skills.

I'm dreading: Kid finds a magic word and FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

nweathington

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

Given that it's New Line, not WB, and that Lemke is writing it (he wrote the fourth Shrek and the upcoming Goosebumps movies), and that they’ve brought in Johnson, it appears they might go in a humor direction after all.

Torchsong

nweathington said:

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

Given that it's New Line, not WB, and that Lemke is writing it (he wrote the fourth Shrek and the upcoming Goosebumps movies), and that they’ve brought in Johnson, it appears they might go in a humor direction after all.

We can only hope. I have no interest in a "dark" version of Captain Marvel.

JaxUr

The recent Geoff Johns back-up series was a really good update on the Marvel family. It's worth your time.

SolitaireRose

JaxUr said:

The recent Geoff Johns back-up series was a really good update on the Marvel family. It's worth your time.

After 4 stories of Billy Batson being a psychotic jerk, I decided I didn't care. I have the reprints and that's good. Even Roy Thomas couldn't do a "dark" captain marvel I wanted to read.

JaxUr

SolitaireRose said:

JaxUr said:

The recent Geoff Johns back-up series was a really good update on the Marvel family. It's worth your time.

After 4 stories of Billy Batson being a psychotic jerk, I decided I didn't care. I have the reprints and that's good. Even Roy Thomas couldn't do a "dark" captain marvel I wanted to read.

Billy gets set on the right track by the story's conclusion. I especially liked the new take on the Marvel Family (more diversity).

JaxUr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhqWttr6aY

Matt

nweathington said:

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

Given that it's New Line, not WB, and that Lemke is writing it (he wrote the fourth Shrek and the upcoming Goosebumps movies), and that they’ve brought in Johnson, it appears they might go in a humor direction after all.

Isn't New Line a branch of WB?

M

CaptShazam

I am in for this so far. I think Johnson will be great in the Adam role. I hope they get the Capt Marvel casting right.

The tone of this movie is what worries me. If it goes too far in the "Holy Moly" direction, i could see people staying away. If it goes the N52 direction, then you might as called call it "Man of Steel: Redux". Hopefully it finds the right balance.

WetRats

Matt said:

nweathington said:

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

Given that it's New Line, not WB, and that Lemke is writing it (he wrote the fourth Shrek and the upcoming Goosebumps movies), and that they’ve brought in Johnson, it appears they might go in a humor direction after all.

Isn't New Line a branch of WB?

M

Yes.

DennisCuzinski

They should get Jerry Ordway to write the script

nweathington

Matt said:

nweathington said:

Mr_Cosmic said:

Too bad this movie can't have any humor in it.

Given that it's New Line, not WB, and that Lemke is writing it (he wrote the fourth Shrek and the upcoming Goosebumps movies), and that they’ve brought in Johnson, it appears they might go in a humor direction after all.

Isn't New Line a branch of WB?

M

Yes, but the point is that they’re releasing it through a division rather than WB proper, implying they want to keep the film somewhat separate from the rest while still getting all the profits. To me that suggests they'll be going with a different tone than the rest of the DC line.

Brack

Having Captain Marvel in a separate movie universe to Superman would show a better understanding of the character than most of the past 3 decades of DC Comics.

Torchsong

I enjoyed Bratson (the New52 version). It was just close enough to the source material to be respectful, just far enough away to give us some meat with the potatoes. If the movie were to take this route, I'd totally be in (not that I'm not anyhow), and I'd say it's likely they probably will.

Selling squeaky-clean radio host Billy Batson to today's audience would be tough. Selling a streetwise, smart-mouthed kid who knows how to take care of himself and doesn't think he needs a family (until he finds out much differently by the end)? Much easier.

Matt

My favorite part of this is the talk of the movie's tone. It pisses in the face of certain DC View Master wearing fanboys who label Marvel Studio movies as "comedies for kids."

M

nweathington

Matt said:

My favorite part of this is the talk of the movie's tone. It pisses in the face of certain DC View Master wearing fanboys who label Marvel Studio movies as "comedies for kids."

M

I'm not looking for a Captain Marvel comedy either. I'm hoping for a whimsical adventure, something with charm and a sense of wonder—not slapstick. Something along the lines of E.T. or The Goonies, where there's humor, but also excitement and danger. I'm not looking for a never-ending string of one-liners and zingers, but rather something with a sense of joy.

Torchsong

If they can focus on the important stuff:

- A child in an adult body (Cap) versus an adult in a child's body (Batson)
- A loner who needs a family
- A legacy that has to be upheld

...this could be a great movie. If they choose to make it a fun-filled romp with all the goofiness (that admittedly we love) about Cap (Tawny, Dudley, etc.) this'll be dead on arrival.

Also, Amy Adams needs to play Mary. :) Yeah I know she's busy being Lois right now...let me dream... :)

Matt

I don't know too much about Captain Marvel, but based on what people have posted, I picture something similar in tone to Marvel Studio movies, which I define as Adventure movies. Like Indy movies & Star War movies, they have action, excitement, light moments & serious moments.

Side note: along the same lines; someone suggested to me DC/WB would probably be better received if it was more like Star Wars: Episode 5 in tone.

M

Brack

Captain Marvel is real easy to get right - it's "Hey kids, what if YOU could turn into Superman?". The reason it doesn't work in DC is because you can't have a kid turn into Superman when there's already Superman.

It's the same reason Dial H for Hero has never taken off, but when you take the same idea and plant it in its own world, you can get nearly a decade of successful cartoons from it.

bralinator

Toby Emmerich, president of New Line Cinemas

“It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself. It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League character, and it’s not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies.”“[The movie] will have a sense of fun and a sense of humor. But the stakes have to be real.”“Black Adam is a complex character. The villain in superhero movies is often, I think, what makes the movie. And I thought Dwayne’s take on the character, and the way that he saw Black Adam, was really compelling and fun.”

More here

Mr_Cosmic

I think they should go meta and have Billy read Superman comics..or watch the recent movie..and dream of becoming a hero before meeting the Wizard.

SolitaireRose

Torchsong said:

If they can focus on the important stuff:

- A child in an adult body (Cap) versus an adult in a child's body (Batson)
- A loner who needs a family
- A legacy that has to be upheld

...this could be a great movie. If they choose to make it a fun-filled romp with all the goofiness (that admittedly we love) about Cap (Tawny, Dudley, etc.) this'll be dead on arrival.

I could not disagree more. (which is fine, by the way, it's why they have more than one flavor of ice cream)

If they remove the fun and whimsy from the movie, it's just another generic Superman with a twist. The whimsy makes it different, which is why DC hasn't ever gotten any traction with the character. Jerry Ordway did it best in Power of Shazam, updating it and making it work for a modern audience.

Making Billy Batson edgy and streetwise is a Poochy move, imho.

Torchsong

I'm separating "The movie I would like to see" from "The movie that will actually get butts in chairs and gain an audience that'll get people to want to know more." It's this second type of movie I'm referring to in the original post.

The movie I would like to see would have Tawny, Hoppy, the Lt. Marvels, Dudley, Sivana, that kid everyone instinctively loves to a fault, etc. That movie will not find an audience outside of you, me and several other people on this thread, no matter how much you want to throw Rockett and Groot into the mix as an example of how it could. Not the same type of characters. Not the same type of story.

Would love to be wrong on this. Don't believe I am. Prove me wrong, Hollywood.

I was as skeptical about the New52 Bratson as anyone, but taken as a whole, that story would work. And work well. It has the fun and whimsy without the "Wtf?". Ordway's version would work as well. I've always felt the separation of powers idea was the best thing DC's come up with in the past 30 years with the Marvel family. But as much as I love it, I think it'll come off as too bland and boring for your average audience if you translate it to the silver screen.