Shazam!!! - Part 1

[HighFivingMF]

Originally Posted by Billy Batson

You are correct.
I have nothing concrete to base my $.02 opinion on the new film.
To me, Warners Brothers are just clueless regarding Superman.
I would like for you and anyone else to just take my comment and note my negative stance on the subject matter and leave it at that.
Time will tell if I'm incorrect or correct, but I'm quite sure that too will be based on one's opinion and perspective.

You can feel however you want, your stance be it negative or positive is perfectly fine. I don't want to try to change your mind, that's your business and I respect it. I just thought it was odd that you stated as a fact the movie would tank. But that's all done with now.

[Lord]

Any site where i can read the early Captain Marvel comics for free? I found some but they normally don't have the first issues, since they're in public domain i believelinks for these sites can be posted right?

[Kyle Rayner]

This is HOW IT SHOULD BE!

Zachary Gordon AKA Billy Batson


Kevin Durand AKA Captain Marvel

[Kyle Rayner]

Shazam is all about a kid saying a word and becoming a superhero. Ask anyone, during our childhood we wanted to be a superhero, tie a towel around our neck, spread our arms and run around the living room like a superhero would do. Shazam took it to the next level, giving a kid the chance to become one.

The movie is WAY OVER DUE. For the longest time there was a movie in the works but it didn't go anywhere the Rock even said that he would love to play Black Adam.

Time will tell.

[Airwings]

Zachary Gordon could suit the part well. But for a minute or two I thought maybe Max Records or Joel Courtney were possible.

[superhero]

doesi oerember the tv show from1960 it wasfake iliked it tv land showedit for a while. i liked it a lot. ireocmed chekcing out the anmited moive shazzam /superman return of black adam

[DarkSovereignty]

you must've destroyed the sites spell check with that one. anyway, my two cents, i would love a period piece set in the forties, maybe fifties, make it the ultimate golden age homage. And I have to admit, I actually think brendeb fraiser could make a decent cap.

[TheDragonator]

If Superior gets made into a film, you can kiss the chances of a Shazam film goodbye.

Even more if Marvel makes a Captain Marvel film.

[Lord]

Originally Posted by DarkSovereignty

you must've destroyed the sites spell check with that one. anyway, my two cents, i would love a period piece set in the forties, maybe fifties, make it the ultimate golden age homage. And I have to admit, I actually think brendeb fraiser could make a decent cap.

[Kyle Rayner]

The only problem with that is that Brendan Fraser is in his 40's already and his film resume in the last decade hasn't been that great, with the exception of Crash. Also the guy developed one hell of a beer gut.

[DrCosmic]

I would think Shazam could be a very interesting TV show.

[batdude]

It was one years ago, Although only Cap and Billy were in it. Frankly to me, I always thought the CW should have had Shazam on Smallville and tried to get a spinoff, but it never happened.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by Kyle Rayner

This is HOW IT SHOULD BE!

Zachary Gordon AKA Billy Batson

BRANDON MOLALE as CAPTAIN MARVEL



DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON as BLACK ADAM

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by Kyle Rayner

Shazam is all about a kid saying a word and becoming a superhero. Ask anyone, during our childhood we wanted to be a superhero, tie a towel around our neck, spread our arms and run around the living room like a superhero would do. Shazam took it to the next level, giving a kid the chance to become one.

The movie is WAY OVER DUE. For the longest time there was a movie in the works but it didn't go anywhere the Rock even said that he would love to play Black Adam.

Time will tell.

I know I did, lol.

[Antonello Blueberry]

According to Geoff Johns the movie is not dead.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/geof...am-120126.html

Nrama: You've been working on producing and co-writing a Shazam movie. Is this comic book story at all related to the work you've done on the film?
Johns: Not really. It's got some elements that I pitched in there, and some of the same characters, obviously, because the characters cross over. Tonally, it's probably pretty close.
Nrama: We haven't heard much about the film project lately. Is it dead, or is there still a possibility this could be a film?
Johns: Oh, no, Shazam's always — there's always a possibility for Shazam. There's always talk about Shazam. And I can't get into the specifics on that, but yeah, there's hope for Shazam.

[Lord]

I hope this movie can be made before any Captain Marvel (Marvel's version) movie is made

[KangConquers]

Originally Posted by Lord

I hope this movie can be made before any Captain Marvel (Marvel's version) movie is made

I don't think a Mar-Vell movie is likely. The character, while a popular name in the 70s, has been dead in the comics for 30 years, and thus, not a big part of any marketing etc.

Sadly, DC has handled their Captain Marvel the same way. When they acquired the rights to the character, he was still up there with their Big 3 in terms of recognition. Unfortunately, DC has never been quite sure what to do with the Big Red Cheese, and his star has faded over the last several decades.

[Airwings]

Pick a low-key director for this. The film could have a small budget. I don't mind cheap effects and a fake look when the hero is flying, fighting villains etc. Make it seem a little ridiculous, because superheroes are unbelievable anyway.

John Landis, Peter Hyams, Ivan Reitman, Walter Hill, anyone?
It doesn't have to be deep like a Roman Polanski film, or be directed by some high class filmmaker like Woody Allen.

[rogue trooper]

I, personally, think a Shazam movie might work best as a cgi animated film. Look at The Incredibles, Astro Boy, TMNT, The Adventures of Tintin, and Megamind. A cgi film could capture the look of C.C. Beck and Kurt Shaffenberger(and maybe a little of Jeff Smith and Jerry Ordway), and the humor more appropriately than in live-action, imo!!

Zachary Gordon as the voice of Billy Batson, Brendan Fraser as the voice of Captain Marvel, Ben Kingsley as the voice of Dr. Sivana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the voice of Black Adam, Michael Sheen as the voice of Mr. Mind, Frank Langella as the voice of Shazam the wizard, and Michael Clark Duncan as the voice Tawny The Tiger(as he was in Smith's Monster Society of Evil).

[TheComicbookKid]

You'd figure the DCE would be smart enough to know about diversifying their product across all mediums. Not all characters need a movie(30 million or 200million).

Captain Marvel would be a great cartoon series.

[tecnowraith]

Ok here is a question, in recent media interpretations of the character like in animated series JL: Unlimited and animated films, they had Captain Marvel still having the mentality of Billy , an 11yr kid trapped in a grown. Should this still be part of the character or not?

[rogue trooper]

I think Cap should be a seperate person, but having Billy inside him should make him have a somewhat wilder and playfull spirit at times.

[TheComicbookKid]

I think they should be able to switch between them.

Captain Marvel doesn't have any personality or angle to me. Billy does so it would be nice to have that contrast and develop their relationship that way.

[Hyden]

I think the question of how to adapt Captain Marvel (Or I guess Shazam now) really comes down to what sort of audience demographic the movie s supposed to appeal to. I think there are a few ways you could do it

1. Make it a kids movie. This is just plain simple because Captain Marvel is a classically wholesome and soft edged character and the true appeal of Billy Batson's story has always been unadulterated wish fulfillment fantasies. I don't think you'd really need to do anything special with the source material, just make it very simple and light hearted and kid friendly.
The problem with this is that there really aren't that many none-pixar/live-action family films with broad appeal really being made today so chances are it would be insufferable for anybody old enough to already know who Captain Marvel is. That and, I'm not sure what sort of boxoffice prospects a live action PG film has these days. I guess stuff like Alvin and the Chipmunks net enough to warrant sequels, but they seem relatively inexpensive to me, not like a super hero film.

2. the second option is to do what most super-hero films do, which is tailor toward to ever precious 13-30 male demographic and all their lovely wallets. But the so-called darker/edgier/more violent characters (like Batman, Iron Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, and Spider-man) normally fair best in these situations both critically and commercially so I imagine that if Shazam would be adapted for this most lucrative of markets they would have to take quite a few liberties with the source material.
I'm not one to say it can't be done, but I'd be really surprised if anybody managed to take Shazam and make it simultaneously appealing to young men/ bare passing resemblance to the source material/ worth watch.

3. The third option, I guess, would be to make it a kitsch/camp post-modern throwback/send up to Golden Age comics with varying levels of tongue-in-cheek satire and self awareness. I could actually imagine this being really good, it my mind it might have the deconstructed, high-culture/low-culture appeal of a Tarantino film with that great grey "is it art-house or exploitation?" meta-textual flair.
Of course, this option is more than likely going to go right over everybody's heads, or at least that's what the powers that be at Warner Bros. would tell you 3 minutes in to the pitch-meeting. Much too obtuse and high-concept for any major studio the green-light, and it's not exactly a property you could shop around to anybody else.

Can anybody think of another possibility to add?

[chiefchirpa]

Originally Posted by Hyden

I think the question of how to adapt Captain Marvel (Or I guess Shazam now) really comes down to what sort of audience demographic the movie s supposed to appeal to. I think there are a few ways you could do it

1. Make it a kids movie. This is just plain simple because Captain Marvel is a classically wholesome and soft edged character and the true appeal of Billy Batson's story has always been unadulterated wish fulfillment fantasies. I don't think you'd really need to do anything special with the source material, just make it very simple and light hearted and kid friendly.
The problem with this is that there really aren't that many none-pixar/live-action family films with broad appeal really being made today so chances are it would be insufferable for anybody old enough to already know who Captain Marvel is. That and, I'm not sure what sort of boxoffice prospects a live action PG film has these days. I guess stuff like Alvin and the Chipmunks net enough to warrant sequels, but they seem relatively inexpensive to me, not like a super hero film.

2. the second option is to do what most super-hero films do, which is tailor toward to ever precious 13-30 male demographic and all their lovely wallets. But the so-called darker/edgier/more violent characters (like Batman, Iron Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, and Spider-man) normally fair best in these situations both critically and commercially so I imagine that if Shazam would be adapted for this most lucrative of markets they would have to take quite a few liberties with the source material.
I'm not one to say it can't be done, but I'd be really surprised if anybody managed to take Shazam and make it simultaneously appealing to young men/ bare passing resemblance to the source material/ worth watch.

3. The third option, I guess, would be to make it a kitsch/camp post-modern throwback/send up to Golden Age comics with varying levels of tongue-in-cheek satire and self awareness. I could actually imagine this being really good, it my mind it might have the deconstructed, high-culture/low-culture appeal of a Tarantino film with that great grey "is it art-house or exploitation?" meta-textual flair.
Of course, this option is more than likely going to go right over everybody's heads, or at least that's what the powers that be at Warner Bros. would tell you 3 minutes in to the pitch-meeting. Much too obtuse and high-concept for any major studio the green-light, and it's not exactly a property you could shop around to anybody else.

Can anybody think of another possibility to add?

#2.

There's no reason to have a gritty, mean Black Adam without doing #2. Yes I know, Billy Batson needs to evolve from being a kid to a hapless adult. Shazam needs to evolve if it wants to reap success in the box office.