Taglines: If you want to save the world, say the magic word.
“We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Zachary Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou).
In Philadelphia, Billy Batson is an abandoned child who is proving a nuisance to Child Services and the authorities with his stubborn search for his lost mother. However, in his latest foster home, Billy makes a new friend, Freddy, and finds himself selected by the Wizard Shazam to be his new champion. Now endowed with the ability to instantly become an adult superhero by speaking the wizard’s name, Billy gleefully explores his new powers with Freddy.
However, Billy soon learns that he has a deadly enemy, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who was previously rejected by the wizard and has accepted the power of the Seven Deadly Sins instead. Now pursued by this mad scientist for his own power as well, Billy must face up to the responsibilities of his calling while learning the power of a special magic with his true family that Sivana can never understand.
Shazam! is a 2019 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character. Produced by New Line Cinema and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the seventh installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by David F. Sandberg from a screenplay by Henry Gayden, and a story by Gayden and Darren Lemke, the film stars Asher Angel as Billy Batson, a teenage boy who can transform into an adult superhero, played by Zachary Levi. Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, and Djimon Hounsou also star.
The plot follows Billy Batson, who is chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam as his new champion and receives various superpowers. Billy and his best friend Freddy Freeman (Grazer) must discover Billy’s new powers in order to stop the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong) and the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man.
Development of a live-action Shazam! film began at New Line in the early 2000s but was delayed for many years. The film went into pre-production in 2009 with director Peter Segal and writer John August and Dwayne Johnson considered to star as the villain Black Adam, but the project fell through; Dwayne Johnson acts as an executive producer on Shazam!. William Goldman, Alec Sokolow, Joel Cohen, Bill Birch, and Geoff Johns, among others, were all attached to the project as writers at various points.
The film was officially announced in 2014, with Johnson attached to star as either Shazam or Black Adam. He would later be cast in January 2017 to lead a solo Black Adam development project, currently targeted for a December 2021 release. Sandberg signed on to direct Shazam! in February 2017 and Levi was cast that October, with Angel joining the following month. Principal photography began in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on January 29, 2018, with most of the film shot at Pinewood Toronto Studios, and wrapped on May 11, 2018.
Shazam! was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX 3D, 4DX and ScreenX on April 5, 2019. The film grossed $366 million worldwide, making it a box office success. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Sandberg’s direction and the performances of Levi, Grazer, and Angel, as well as its light tone and sense of fun.[6] A sequel is set for release on November 4, 2022.
Shazam! (2019)
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Lovina Yavari, Michelle Borth, Djimon Hounsou, Adam Brody, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ross Butler, Grace Fulton, Natalia Safran, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans
Screenplay by: Henry Gayden
Production Design by: Jennifer Spence
Cinematography by: Maxime Alexandre
Film Editing by: Michel Aller
Costume Design by: Leah Butler
Set Decoration by: Shane Vieau
Art Direction by: Brandt Gordon, Byron Patchett, Colin Woods
Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: April 5, 2019
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