Shazam!

Shazam! 2019 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Saffron Company and Seven Box Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the seventh installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). It was directed by David F. Sandberg from a screenplay by Henry Gayden who wrote the story with Darren Lemmock and stars Zachary Levy, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer and Digimon Honsu. The film follows teenager Billy Batson (Angel) as the ancient sorcerer Shazam (Hounsw) chooses him to be his new champion called “Shazam”, allowing him to transform into an adult superhero (Levi) with various superpowers. Billy and his foster brother Freddie Freeman (Grazer) must discover Billy’s new powers to stop the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong) and the Seven Deadly Sins.

Development

Development of a live-action Shazam! The film was originally slated for release on New Line in the early 2000s, but was delayed for several years. The film went into pre-production in 2009, with Peter Segal as director, John August as writer and Dwayne Johnson being considered to star as the villainous Black Adam, but the project fell through; Johnson serves as an executive producer on Shazam! William Goldman, Alec Sokolow, Joel Cohen, Bill Birch, and Geoff Johns, among others, were all associated with the project as writers at various points. The film was officially announced in 2014, with Johnson playing Shazam, or Black Adam. In January 2017, he was cast to lead the solo Black Adam development project. Sandberg signs on to direct Shazam! in February 2017, and Levy was cast that October, with Angel joining the following month. Principal photography began on January 29, 2018 in Toronto, with most of the film shot at Pinewood Toronto Studios and wrapped on May 11.

Released

Shazam! Released in the US on April 5, 2019. The film was a box office success, grossing over $367 million worldwide, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Sandberg’s direction and the performances of Levy, Angel, and Grazer, as well as its generally light tone and sense of humor. It was followed by the spin-off film Black Adam (2022) and a sequel titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), both failed to live up to the critical and financial success of the first film.

Details

In upstate New York in 1974, young Thaddeus Sivana rides in a 1979 Cadillac Sedan DeVille during a snowstorm with his abusive father and brother Sid, and is constantly taunted and verbally abused by them. He is suddenly transported to the Rock of Eternity, a mysterious temple located in another dimension. There, he meets an ancient sorcerer named Shazam, who has spent centuries searching for someone with a pure heart to bestow his power and name as champion after revealing the Seven Deadly Sins to the former [a]. Thaddeus is tempted by Sin, who promises him power if he frees him. The magician deems Thaddeus incompetent and magically returns him to the chariot. Thaddeus’ frustration and confusion lead to a car accident, leaving his father paralyzed from the waist down and resenting him even more. The Sins send Thaddeus a message through his 8 ball toy, asking him to find them.

In present-day Fawcett City, Philadelphia, 14-year-old foster child Billy Batson runs away from his foster home in search of his birth mother, from whom he was separated at a carnival ten years earlier. He locks some police officers in a store and tries to find his mother using their computer, which fails. He is placed in a group home run by Victor and Rosa Vasquez with five other foster children: Mary Bromfield, Pedro Pena, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, and superhero enthusiast Freddie Freeman. Elsewhere, an enraged Shivana succeeds in her lifelong quest to return to the Eternal Rock. He becomes a vessel of sin when the eye fuses itself with his body and defeats the wizard. He immediately uses his newfound powers to kill his father, brother and the board of directors of Sivana Industries.

Billy saves Freddy from bullies at school and chases him to a subway, where he is taken to the Rock of Eternity. The Wizard chooses Billy to be his new champion; Billy transforms into an adult superhero by saying the name “Shazam”. The wizard apparently dies and leaves behind his magical staff. Freddy is taken into Billy’s confidence and helps him explore his newfound powers, which include superhuman strength, near-invulnerability, and electrokinesis. By saying “Shazam” again, he can return to his normal body. Freddy posts viral videos of the new superhero, and Billy begins skipping school to use his powers for money and fame. He argues with Freddy after accidentally endangering and saving a bus full of people. Shivana comes and demands to surrender her power. Billy discovers he can fly and runs away. He learns the location of his biological mother and meets her, only to be heartbroken to find her abandoned at the carnival after feeling inadequate as a young mother and no longer wanting her in his life.

Shivana discovers Billy’s identity and takes his foster siblings hostage. Billy agrees to hand over his powers to Sivana in exchange for their safety. They go to the Rock of Eternity using the wizard’s staff to effect the shift, but the children attack Shivana. Billy sees Shivana weakened as the seven sins leave her body. Shivana chases them to a winter carnival and unleashes sin on the crowd. Remembering the Wizard, Billy uses the staff to share his powers with his siblings, transforming them into adult superheroes like himself before breaking the staff. The Shazam family battles Sin while Billy confronts Sivana. Billy gets jealous of Sivana leaving her defenseless and forcibly pulls Sivana’s eyes out of her head to re-possess them.

Billy and his siblings are hailed as heroes. They return Sin to their prison and realize they can use the Rock of Eternity as their superhero headquarters. Billy eventually accepts his foster parents and siblings as his “real” family. In his superhero form, he eats lunch at school with his siblings, much to Freddy’s surprise that he has also invited Superman.

In the mid-credits scene, the captive Shivana is approached by a talking caterpillar, [b] who offers an alliance.

Cast and characters

Further information: List of DC Extended Universe cast members and DC Extended Universe characters
Zachary Levy and Asher Angel as Billy Batson / Shazam: A 14-year-old boy and champion of wizards with whom he shares his name and Billy Batson’s superhero alter-ego, who possesses “the wisdom of Solomon, the strength” of Hercules, the strength of Atlas, the strength of Zeus, Achilles’ courage and Mercury’s speed.”
David Kohlsmith plays four-year-old Billy.
Mark Strong Dr. Thaddeus Sivana: A scientist rejected as a potential champion and subsequently estranged from his family, who becomes host to the Seven Deadly Sins and Shazam’s nemesis. Strong previously played Sinestro in the 2011 film Green Lantern, created Shazam! His second appearance in a film based on a DC Comics character.
Ethan Puzziotto plays the young Thaddeus.
Jack Dylan Grazer as Frederick “Freddy” Freeman: Billy’s physically disabled foster brother and a fan of superheroes, who advises Billy on using his newfound powers.
Adam Brody portrays the character in his adult superhero form.
Digimon Honsu as Shazam: The last surviving member of the Wizards’ Council, who has spent centuries leading humans to his temple, the Rock of Eternity, in search of a “pure-hearted” champion to whom he can pass his extraordinary skills. Hounsou previously voiced the Fisher King Rico in the DCEU film Aquaman (2018).
Faith Herman as Darla Dudley: Billy’s good-natured younger foster sister.
Megan Goode plays the character’s adult superhero form.
Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield: Billy’s mature, academically driven older foster sister.
Michelle Borth plays the character’s adult superhero form.
Yan Chen as Eugene Choi: Billy’s younger foster brother, an obsessive gamer and techie.
Ross Butler portrays the character in his adult superhero form.
Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña: Billy’s older foster brother, a shy, sensitive boy who has trouble opening up.
D. J. Cotrona played the character’s adult superhero form.
Marta Milans Rosa Vasquez: Billy and his siblings’ foster mother.
Cooper Andrews as Victor Vásquez: Billy and his siblings’ foster father.
The film also stars John Glover as Thaddeus Sivana’s estranged father and CEO of Sivana Industries. Glover starred in other DC Comics series and films: Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures and Superman: The Animated Series as The Riddler; In the 1997 film Batman and Robin. Jason Woodrow; and Lionel Luthor in Smallville. Natalia Safran was cast as Thaddeus’ mother, although her scenes were cut from the film. Caroline Palmer plays Marlene Batson, Billy’s biological mother. Wayne Ward and Landon Doak portray Sid Sivana, Thaddeus’ bullied brother, as an adult and a teenager, respectively. Carson McCormack and Evan Marsh portray Brett and Burke Breyer, the kids’ school bullies.

Director David F. Sandberg makes cameo appearances as each of the three Crocodile-Men (played by Steve Newbern and Ned Morrill) and provides the voice of the alien lifeform Mr. Mind during the mid-credits sequence. Sandberg’s wife, actress Lotta Losten, as Dr. Lynn Crosby; A researcher working with Dr. Sivana, who is killed by him. Double, appearing uncredited as a stand-in body double for Superman. Hadley’s appearance is a silent cameo, in which the character is only seen from the neck, due to Henry Cavill being unavailable to film the scene. Executive producer Dwayne Johnson’s analogy is used for the mysteriously generated holograph of Teth-Adam, conjured by magician Shazam Billy while teaching him the Rock of Eternity, the Seven Realms of Magic, and the history of his previous champions. Johnson played the title role in Black Adam.

The Seven Deadly Sins – a supernatural group of villains consisting of the demons Pride, Jealousy, Greed, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony and Sloth – were portrayed on set by stunt doubles in motion capture suits during filming, and portrayed on screen through this. CGI special effects were provided by actors Steve Bloom, Darin De Paul, and Fred Tatascio, who collectively voiced them; Tatascior previously voiced Seven Sins in the direct-to-video LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High. In an Easter egg appearance, Andy Osho reprises her role as social worker Emma Glover from Sandberg’s first film Lights Out.

Box Office

Shazam! $140.5 million in the US and Canada and $225.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $368 million. It was estimated that the film would need to earn $235–250 million worldwide to break even, and Deadline Hollywood calculated that the film netted $74 million, when combining all costs and revenues.

Shazam in the United States and Canada! It was released alongside The Best of Enemies and Pet Sematary, and was estimated to gross $40–50 million in its opening weekend from 4,260 theaters. Two weeks before its release, the film grossed $3.3 million from Fandango advance screenings, surpassing the $2.9 million made by the DCEU film Aquaman the previous December. It then took $5.9 million from Thursday night screenings on April 4, for a combined preview total of $9.2 million. The film grossed $20.4 million on its first day, including Thursday previews but not March screenings. It debuted to $53.5 million, finishing first at the box office. The film earned $24.5 million in its second weekend, holding onto the top spot,[109] before being dethroned by newcomer The Curse of La Llorona in its third weekend. In its fourth weekend, it earned $5.6 million and ranked fifth at the box office, behind fellow superhero films Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel.

Elsewhere, the film was released in 53 markets on Wednesday, April 3 and Thursday, April 4 and was projected to debut with $100-120 million for a worldwide opening of $145-170. The film grossed $15.7 million in its first two days of international release, debuting in 48 of its 53 markets. It was then released in an additional 26 countries, including China, where it earned $16.4 million on its first day. It had an international debut of $102 million, and a worldwide total of $158.6 million. It ranked first in 60 of its 79 markets, with the top grossers being China ($43.4 million), Mexico ($10.6 million), Australia ($10.3 million), the United Kingdom ($15.3 million), Russia ($8.4 million), and Brazil ($8.7 million). .

About

Directed by	David F. Sandberg
Screenplay by	Henry Gayden
Story by	·         Henry Gayden ·         Darren Lemke
Based on	Characters from DC
Produced by	Peter Safran
Starring	·         Zachary Levi ·         Mark Strong ·         Asher Angel ·         Jack Dylan Grazer ·         Djimon Hounsou
Cinematography	Maxime Alexandre
Edited by	Michel Aller
Music by	Benjamin Wallfisch
Production companies	·         New Line Cinema ·         DC Films ·         The Safran Company ·         Seven Bucks Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	·         March 28, 2019 (TCL Chinese Theater) ·         April 5, 2019 (United States)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	·         United States
Language	English
Budget	$90–100 million
Box office	$367.7 million[

 

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