**New trailer ** The Shazam Family in SHAZAM FURY OF THE GODS March 17, 2023
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What sequel..? Chances are if Shazam gets rebooted by James Gunn and co. down the line Levi wont be back..
Are you a retard? This thread is for the sequel.
Im talking about a 3rd movie...
The 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' post-credits scenes, explained
Let's break down the 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' post-credits scenes — including that caterpillar cameo.
Well damn...
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'Shazam!' director David F. Sandberg is 'done with superheroes for now'
After 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' ha a lackluster opening weekend, director David F. Sandberg says he is 'done with superheroes for now' and is looking forward to returning to horror movies.
How Dwayne Johnson Kneecapped ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Shazam 2’ While Trying to Take Over DC | Exclusive
The underwhelming $65 million worldwide debut of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is another black mark for the DC Universe, the second-string superhero stable. But there’s another villain, insiders told TheWrap: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose behind-the-scenes maneuvering to boost another DC property — “Black Adam,” in which he starred — may well end up tanking both franchises, they said.
To be clear, DC has a host of problems that aren’t Johnson’s fault, which is why Warner Bros. Discovery is attempting a reboot under James Gunn and Peter Safran. But in trying to shape “Black Adam” as the new center of the DC Universe — a strategy that failed to bolster “Black Adam” and undercut the once-promising “Shazam” franchise — Johnson may have kneecapped both, painting a portrait of a celebrity who put his own brand before the work.
Johnson did plenty of work in public to undermine “Shazam,” chiefly by promoting a face-off between Black Adam and Superman instead of the more canonical link between the hero Zachary Levi played and the former pro wrestler’s own character. Privately, he vetoed a planned post-credits scene in “Black Adam,” which would have seen Shazam recruited by Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, and other costumed heroes, into the Justice Society of America, TheWrap can report exclusively, thanks to disclosures by two high-level Hollywood insiders.
There’s plenty to blame for the underwhelming grosses for “Black Adam” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” including middling reviews and the mixed message sent by the DC Studios revamp. Like “The Lego Movie,” “Shazam 2” might be another example of a movie where the audience saw the original as family-friendly fare but perceived the sequel as a kid flick with limited appeal. Still, Johnson’s public and private actions seemed to play an undeniable role.
A representative for Johnson didn’t respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Reps for Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema declined to comment.
Problems cooking with “The Rock”
“Dwayne tries to sell himself as bigger than the movie,” said a high-ranking Hollywood executive who asked for anonymity in order to discuss talent matters frankly while speaking to TheWrap. “He’s one of the few people who always thinks he’s the most important person in any situation or room.”
That plays into the kind of franchises that Johnson usually spearheads, like the movie based on the “Rampage” video game, a remake of the cinematic adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel “The Mysterious Island,” or “Jumanji.” Problems arose when Johnson entered a franchise that was bigger than him, like the “Fast & Furious” series, where he clashed with franchise architect Vin Diesel, or “Baywatch,” where his star power couldn’t save an expensive film built on weak IP.
A superheroic fight
Johnson spent much of the weeks before the release of “Black Adam” touting not the movie itself or his character’s in-universe connection to Shazam but instead on a theoretical clash of the titans between himself and Henry Cavill’s Superman. Then-DC Films head Walter Hamada vetoed a cameo by the star of the divisively received “Man of Steel,” “Batman v Superman” and “Justice League,” but Johnson went over his head and got approval from Warner Bros. Film Group co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
“Instead of making a movie, he wants to extend his brand and make a brand centered on himself,” said the Hollywood executive who criticized Johnson. An Instagram post in which he declared that “the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change” was an implicit statement that Johnson’s Black Adam should be the new focal point of the universe. That meant positioning himself to go up against Henry Cavill’s Superman, not Zachary Levi’s goofy Shazam.
The actor failed to learn the lesson of Universal’s Dark Universe
As the architects of Universal’s canceled Dark Universe or Warner Bros.’ “King Arthur and the Legend of the Sword” might tell you, you don’t promise a cinematic universe before you have a hit like Marvel did with “Iron Man.”
Johnson spiked plans in the mid-2010s to make a film featuring both Shazam and Black Adam in favor of two separate films. That worked out well for Levi’s acclaimed and successful first “Shazam” movie. As a dark, violent and unapologetically rock ‘em-sock ‘em actioner, it was the right call for “Black Adam” as well. The issue came with Johnson going rogue and implicitly maligning the “Shazam” franchise without checking to see if anyone wanted to see a “Black Adam vs. Superman” movie.
Maybe Johnson mistook the online conversation about Cavill’s run as Kal-El for real-world interest, or he didn’t realize that online discourse about Zack Snyder’s first three DC films was partially a bot-driven vocal minority. Perhaps he didn’t care.
Either way, the actor-producer spent September and October selling the notion that bringing back Henry Cavill as the Last Son of Krypton was what “the fans wanted.” The narrative was framed in a way as to further fan the flames of an ongoing civil war between those in the so-called SnyderVerse and the mainstream DCU.
New DC Studios co-chief and “Shazam” producer Peter Safran resurfaced a version of the post-credits sequence Johnson vetoed, and it now exists as a mid-credits cookie in “Fury of the Gods.” But Johnson nixed the use of “Black Adam” actors and the scene now plays out with Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee from “Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker.”
“By alienating the established property that his character was born out of, and refusing to integrate with other established characters, [Johnson] systematically crippled two franchises, and has harmed DC in the process,” another Hollywood insider told TheWrap.
A refusal to concede failure
“Black Adam” underperformed relative to its cost, earning $168 million domestically and $393 million worldwide on a COVID-affected $230 million budget. That global total is right between “G.I Joe: Retaliation” ($375 million in 2013) and “Rampage” ($430 million in 2018), but those films -– along with both “Jumanji” sequels, “Journey 2: The Incredible Island” and “San Andreas” — cost between $80 million and $130 million.
“Johnson was a big reason why [“Black Adam”] was able to perform above the level it likely would have without him,” said Boxoffice Pro Chief Analyst Shawn Robbins. In a pre-pandemic environment, the movie likely would have added an extra $125 million-$175 million from Russia and China, giving it a good-enough $550 million global total. But the other problem might be underestimating the overlap between the audience for a DC cape flick and a Dwayne Johnson action fantasy.
Johnson, meanwhile, touted a profit projection for “Black Adam” and compared its worldwide gross to the first “Captain America.” In terms of painting its star as unwilling to concede to commercial reality, the cover-up was worse than the crime. At least Jared Leto didn’t spend last April swearing that “Morbius” was a hit.
“Franchise Viagra” no more
Ten years ago, the release of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” starring Johnson as new protagonist Roadblock, was seen as evidence he could juice an existing theatrical franchise. His supporting role in the acclaimed and $620 million-grossing “Fast Five” helped turn the franchise into an A-level action series, and “Journey 2: The Incredible Island” earned more ($335 million) than Brendan Fraser’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” ($244 million). The narrative stuck even while “Retaliation” earned less domestically ($122 million) than Stephen Sommers’ “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” ($150 million).
Warner Bros. Discovery is making like Walt Disney and pledging to keep moving forward, expressing extreme confidence in both “The Flash” and the soft reboot plans hatched by Peter Safran and James Gunn beginning with “Superman: Legacy” in 2025.
Yet Gunn and Safran have a talent challenge in their reboot: A key star damaged the once-promising “Shazam” franchise while strangling another, “Black Adam,” in its crib. Johnson’s public pandering to an online vocal minority and refusal to concede box-office defeat has likewise hurt his franchise-saving reputation.
Johnson tried to remold the DC Universe in his image, and in doing so he not only failed to save the franchise but actively contributed to its downfall. What’s the opposite of franchise Viagra?
‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ Writers Talk ‘Fast’ Joke, New DC Leadership and That Major Cameo
Co-writers Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan share how "one of the biggest cheer moments ever" came to be in their script.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan clearly like working together. The day before Shazam! Fury of the Gods hit theaters, the co-writers couldn’t say enough good things about each other, tossing questions and praise back and forth on a mid-morning Zoom call with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m a huge fan of Henry’s writing,” said Morgan, who’s known for his work as a screenwriter on The Fast and the Furious franchise, about hopping onto the Shazam! sequel with Gayden. “He has this kind of a superpower of being able to tap into a teen voice that I just have no access to…I just kind of am in awe of that.”
Gayden felt just as strongly about Morgan, and even wrote a Fast and Furious joke into into the script as a tribute.
“It literally is one of the greatest joys of me reading a script ever,” Morgan said of reading the nod for the first time. “Henry sends me an email, and he’s like ‘Hey, man, I did some work on this thing. Take a look at these pages.’ I read that in there and I laughed so hard.”
Shazam!, Fury of the Gods picks up two years after the events of the first film, with Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) and the Shazam family experiencing growing pains and facing off against the daughters of Atlas, played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler.
The sequel arrives on the heels of major change at DC Studios, as James Gunn and Peter Safran were hired last year as the new co-chairs and co-CEOs of the Warner Bros. division. With no current plans for a third Shazam! installment at the studio, the future of the franchise remains up in the air. And although the film’s tepid box office opening and poor reviews hurt the likelihood of a third film, Fury of the Gods boasts a high audience rating of 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The co-writers sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the film’s new villains, the audience reaction to that surprise Wonder Woman cameo and their hopes for the future of the franchise amid uncertainty.
Henry, you wrote the first Shazam! film. Chris — how did you come on to this project?
Chris Morgan: Well, for me, it was super easy. Henry had everything pretty much already in place on the second film. I got a phone call from Walter Hamada and Henry and Peter Safran, and they said, “Hey, can you kind of come in for a few weeks and help out?” It was mostly just being a sounding board for them to bounce ideas off of. Some structural stuff on the back end and a little mythology, maybe blowing things up a little bit. But listen, when you get a call like that, there’s no way you’re saying no. It’s like a dream team. I’m a huge fan of Henry’s writing. He has this kind of a superpower of being able to tap into a teen voice that I just have no access to. Like, my teen years were — I mean, they were totally fine but — just very hard for me, and so I just have blotted them out. But for some reason, [Henry] can kind of get in there. He remembers the angst of growing up and all the little moments that I’ve kind of blocked out. He’s able to bring it into a modern day with the film and the characters. I just kind of am in awe of that.
Henry Gayden: I think Chris is underselling his contribution a little bit. We’ve known each other for a bit doing rooms, and I think you came in and read the first Shazam! and talked to us. So, I’ve known Chris for a bit and truly loved his movies and geeked out and told him some really nerdy Tokyo Drift stories when we first met. He came in and lent what I think is his superpower — which sounds like we practiced this, but I do think this — which is this superstructure in building story. We had all these characters, we had the theme, we knew the journey, we knew where we ended, but there was a lot of getting there and building up and mythology in the daughters. And how to juggle like 5,000 characters and tell the story and he really, really brought magic to that. That was invaluable.
Speaking of this film’s massive ensemble cast, how did you find the balancing act of continuing to develop existing characters, while creating space to flesh out new ones?
Gayden: For whatever reason, every project I take on has a billion characters and I just don’t know why I keep doing that. I finally got an assignment that had four main characters, and by the end of my first draft, there were 12. Like I just added people, you know? I basically just write a lot, and I give everyone room to breathe, and then put a script together that is way too long. Then we shoot it and we kind of cut it down more and more. But you know, Eugene (Ian Chen/Ross Butler) had a bigger story, Pedro’s (Jovan Armand/DJ Cotrona) crush on the baseball player had more scenes where he actually got to meet that player in the third act. In the process of development and even post, [we] just winnow it down to the essentials. And usually, if you’re coming from an authentic place, that will still break through. That’s my really messy process.
Morgan: I’ve learned along the way, having worked on a lot of ensemble projects, each character in each movie is someone’s favorite character in the entire franchise. So you want to make sure you give everybody their due and give them their great moments. As a writer, you love all the characters kind of equally, and you want to see them have the cheer moments from the audience. Very early on in my writing career, I had no idea what I was doing. I would just write incredibly long, single-spaced outlines that nobody could read or parse through. It was very difficult to track, you’d give it to an executive and be like, “This is what I’m thinking about for the script.” And it kind of was a script, but just hard to get through. So Walter Hamada, who was an executive at the time, we sat down and came up with this process, where I basically use post-it notes. I tried notecards that everyone recommends, but then I’d write too much on them. So I take post-it notes, and I use a big sharpie, and I write three or four words down of what each beat is, and I put it up on a window. And if the things don’t work, then I throw it away, and I can move them. I can pull it all down and then put it back. In fact, I remember I pitched I think it was Fast 4 for Vin [Diesel] — I took a stack of post-it notes from my window and went to his kitchen counter, and laid it [all out]. He looked at the story was like, “Holy shit.” It just helps.
After the first film’s post-credit scenes with Mister Mind (that diabolical genius worm with the robot voice), many thought he would be the villain in the sequel. Why the pivot?
Gayden: It was a kind of long development where we went down a lot of story avenues, and even wrote out a few drafts where Mister Mind and Sivana teamed up. There’s a scene where Sivana breaks out of prison without having to lift a finger because of Mister Mind’s help, which is one of my favorite scenes I’ve written. There was stuff there that was great, but none of it really serviced a natural growth for Billy. It felt a little redundant. It felt like we were doing the last movie just on a bigger scale. And the one thing that I had, like from the very beginning, before we even had a story was this has to be the story of a boy who’s never had a family. Now he’s finally gotten a family, and the natural next chapter would be he’s going to hold on too tight because he’s terrified to lose that family. And so if you introduce that as the story, he’s a kid who turns into a superhero, but doesn’t even know if he deserves it. The best villain was one that we could just create … villains that speak to all that. Villains who are a family, whose family was broken because of the actions of The Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) and who want their powers back and also do not think that Billy deserves his powers, either.
Speaking of the daughters of Atlas, what was your main priority when it came to crafting them as villains for this film?
Morgan: The two things I love about them is that it is completely rooted in the story of Shazam! and where the powers came from. The fact that they’re stolen from another family just makes it feel like it is part and parcel of our character’s journey. It also gives your villains a real sense of — they’re not just being jerks, they have a real axe to grind with every member of our Shazam family. Their destiny, their family, their world, their everything was taken away by somebody and given to Shazam, and now they want to come get it back. And also, I will just say, the thing that I love most about it is you finally get to nail down the reason why it is Shazam. When I read every script, I was always laughing at their search to find good names for their superhero alter egos. It feels natural to finally just land it.
Gayden: I personally loved that you had three different perspectives on justice. You have one who wanted revenge, you have one who kind of came in and saw the people who did this to her father and was younger and curious, and then you had the older perspective, which was conflicted. And I liked having those three perspectives bouncing off of each other. Some of the most fun was crafting sisters who’ve lived with each other for millennia. There’s a moment that’s buried in the movie where Anthea’s (Zegler) being like, “But humans can be good!” And Kalypso (Liu) goes, “Anthea, you simpering bore.” I love that these sisters get to call each other out on things. It was a lot of fun to write. Also, just three women as villains was pretty badass and awesome.
Morgan: And those three women, in particular.
Definitely. And Chris, you’ve worked on The Fast and the Furious franchise in the past, and there’s a joke in this that makes a reference to Fast and the series’ emphasis on “family.” How did that get worked into the script?
Gayden: I wrote that as a tribute to Chris. Obviously, we did not know Helen Mirren [who plays Magdalene ‘Queenie’ Shaw in the Fast films] was going to be cast as Hespera. I just wrote that joke in because a lot of people talked about how we were also about family when the first movie came out. I was like, let’s just lean into this. Also, Chris worked on this movie and I kind of wanted to tip my cap to him. So I put that in as a joke for Chris. Then, we cast Helen Mirren, and we were like, can we still…? And then we were like, yeah, we should do it.
Morgan: It literally is one of the greatest joys of me reading a script ever. Henry sends me an email. He’s like, “Hey, man, I did some work on this thing. Take a look at these pages.’” “I read that in there and I laughed so hard. I’m like, there’s no way that’s staying and then of course, it turns out to be one of the bigger, funnier things. Also, it feels cool because yes, you have Queenie Shaw in there. You also have Djimon [Hounsou] from Furious 7. Slowly but surely, the Fast crew are invading Shazam!.
Does this mean Vin Diesel and The Fast and the Furious exist in the Shazam! universe?
Morgan: I don’t know if it’s that Fast exists in every world, but that Shazam! exists in every world.
Now I want to see Vin Diesel say Shazam! and turn into a superhero.
Gayden: Oh, he would say Shazam! really well. [His] voice would nail it.
Morgan: He absolutely would.
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman cameo is huge. Was that always written into the script or did that come later on?
Morgan: I’ll just say it’s one of my very favorite things that Henry did in the last film. It’s a setup and a payoff that takes two films to take off. Like, in the first film, you have Superman show up, but you only show him from the neck down, right? So the audience now understands the language of the movies that “Listen, we’re gonna have the Justice League folks in there, but you’ll never see their faces because, you know, whatever.” So then we set that up in the beginning of this film, and then play the joke with putting Djimon’s face on her body. So at that point, it feels like the joke’s kind of run its course. Then, at the end when you do that shot and it’s from the head down and you tilt up and you see it’s Gal, the audience goes bananas.
Gayden: The audience is insane.
Morgan: Listen, I’ve been in audiences for a lot of films that audiences love, and there’s designed for moments for them to cheer and stuff like this. [This scene] is one of the biggest cheer moments ever. When you hear it in a packed theater with people who weren’t expecting it, it is thunderous.
Gayden: It’s like a volcanic eruption.
James Gunn and Peter Safran recently announced their new plans for DC. As DC creators, how did you guys find out about that?
Gayden: No one that I knew knew because I don’t think they really wanted to leak it until it was announced. So even though I know Peter really well and he produced the first two Shazam! films and Aquaman and obviously many other things, I believe he wasn’t contractually allowed to tell anyone until they announced it. It was really pleasant to find that out. You know, Chris and I are very close with [Walter Hamada] and love Walt. It was sad to see him go, but it’s really cool to have someone that we both know, and also love working with, come in. And also who worked with Walt. So it was great to hear, but I kind of found out like every other normie.
Morgan: Same here. But listen, towards that future, Peter is an incredible producer, and he’s super collaborative and a really nice guy. He’s the kind of guy where the best idea always wins, and I always want to bet on storytellers who take that approach. And then James Gunn, I mean, come on. From Slither, and then Guardians [of the Galaxy], and I gotta say, I loved his Suicide Squad. I loved it.
Gayden: It’s so good.
Morgan: There was COVID and things and whatever, but man, it was good movie. He’s awesome and listen, I’ve already cooked up the popcorn for whatever they have coming next.
At this point, there’s no third Shazam! film lined up in DC’s upcoming slate. Have there been talks of what is possible for the future?
Gayden: Really informal talks with all of us, but nothing in stone because the movie has to do really well, and then after that, we can really commit to it. I think it just depends on the movie’s success. But you know, those kids aren’t getting any younger, so we’ll know sooner than later.
The mid-credits scene also sees Billy recruited by the Justice Society of America, which is an exciting call out for DC fans. Is that something you’d want to explore in future projects?
Gayden: I’m sure there’s a world where there’s Peacemaker, or whatever James wants to use Shazam in — but that’s really up to them and that will be really fun. But again, we just can’t know anything until then, right?
I liked Black Adam but Rock is a dumbass for being so dead set against having Black Adam connected to Shazam.
A Black Adam movie without Shazam is like having a Venom film without Spidey. BA isn't on Joker's level to have his own film. He ain't a hero nor is he even well known enough by non-comic book fans to be out there like that on his own.
Black Adam was good, but it was closer to Hancock than it was to a DC film. Honestly, the Justice Society stuff in BA was more interesting to me than Black Adam himself.
A Black Adam movie without Shazam is like having a Venom film without Spidey. BA isn't on Joker's level to have his own film. He ain't a hero nor is he even well known enough by non-comic book fans to be out there like that on his own.
Black Adam was good, but it was closer to Hancock than it was to a DC film. Honestly, the Justice Society stuff in BA was more interesting to me than Black Adam himself.
^^^
I will never forgive Rock if because of his shenanigans this man doesn't get to play this character again.
Whelp Storm it apparently is true.
You talk to your boss yet? Cause I know he ain't gonna like this
Guess Zack will definitely be cast in the next fast furious now huh?
I saw Shazam2 today and honestly I enjoyed the movie and thought it was really good and entertaining,no it wasnt a perfect movie but it was really well done and enjoyable. However my problem is with DC cause they are the problem not the Rock,not Black Adam not Shazam2 not anyone or anything but DC. There are 3 pillars of DC.Superman,Batman and Wonder Woman but there are also 3 level 2 charcters that should be printing like money. They are the Shazam family including Black Adam,Green Lantern and the corps with Sinestro and Blade. You have to try to fuck those up and not make money and these clowns did that. The 1st Shazam movie was good and made almost $100 million profit to the studio so much profit that they greenlit the sequal and moved forward on Black Adam and thats when the fuck ups started. Rock was the actor and thats what he should have remained,to give him all the power BEFORE the movie was even made was stupid. That shit cost Black Adam from make a profit and ultimately fucked Shazam2 and any future spin offs or sequels(Mary and those big titties would have been perfect for a spin off). Its a shame that the Marvel people couldnt have shown the DC people how to take 2 tier level heroes(Black Panther,Iron Man,Black Widow)and make huge money with excellent movies cause DC has shit the bed with some great comic book characters. I mean how do you fuck up a movie with a kid with Superman like powers and the stories that could come from that. SAD.
^^^^
So Shazam flopped 1st week and got some bad scores and instead of it being because it's mid as fuck it's The Rock's fault.............
Gunn seems to be a Morrison fan. If so, this book could be what the DCEU's future looks like.
