Shazam!!! - Part 1

[Hyden]

#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.

I'm sure you're right. My hope is that the upcoming reintroduction of him in to the DCU in Justice League will go a long way toward updating and sharpening the character.

 

[batdude]

Well, I still think it was a mistake not to do this with The Rock as Black Adam, but this definitely is a character that needs more humor than Batman or Wolverine.

 

[The Guard]

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?

4. All of the above.

If a creator can't make a Captain Marvel movie that is a kids and adults movie, with serious and fantastical elements, with a bit of a wink to it, they shouldn't be making it.

SHAZAM could be the movie that could bridge the gap, and open up a whole new world of superhero movie possibilities.

 

[Captain Marvel]

Oooww, a superman rip-off. It's so obvious.

Dark-haired super strong flying man in a suit and cape, with a symbol on the chest.

I wonder how much effort they must put into it to make it stand on its own.

1) So wearing a cape, a costume, and having a symbol on your chest is enough to be labeled a copy of Superman? Oh no! I guess the hundreds of superheroes wearing costumes, capes, and with symbols on their chests are Superman ripoffs.

2) Super-strength is easily the most common superpower ever. It's even seen in real world mythology, from Thor to Samson to Hercules.

3) Captain Marvel flew. Superman could only leap tall buildings in a single bound. He flew later.

4) You honestly have to ask how much effort they put into it to stand on its own when their backgrounds are absolutely nothing alike?

 

[Billy Batson]

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?

I would use SHAZAM! POWER OF HOPE story by Alex Ross and Paul Dini as the springboard for my script or just hire those guys as the script writers.
I'm not sure on the director I would chose. My Captain Marvel would be very "kiddish" and that would cover the kid appeal element. My action sequences would be very "Dark Knight'ish" or "Superman I'ish" and the vibe of those sequences would have a very "adult" tone to them. Kids are easy, flying, punching and cool visuals, they are happy.
I'm surprised the "system" hasn't green lit a film program like "SHAZAM!" yet. A SHAZAM! film can contain an awful amount of Illuminati Symbolism that the "SYSTEM" love to embed in mass entertainment programming.

One can't escape the pyramids, the all seeing eye and pillars these days.
i.e Madonna's Superbowl Halftime show,Nicky Minaj Grammy performance and ABC's "The River" premier promotion logo. Holey Moly!

 

[Duke]

No Joel Courtney. I think it should be Max Records' turn again. He comes before Joel in the line.

So why would you care about this movie or who gets cast?? I thought you said it was only a "ripoff" & very similar to Superman??

 

[Airwings]

So why would you care about this movie or who gets cast?? I thought you said it was only a "ripoff" & very similar to Superman??

This is what I wrote:

Oooww, a superman rip-off. It's so obvious.

Dark-haired super strong flying man in a suit and cape, with a symbol on the chest.

I wonder how much effort they must put into it to make it stand on its own.

No matter what their backstories are and how they get their powers. For non-comic readers it would visually look as a Superman clone. Sorry to say that.

I guess you know what I mean.

Now let me know who you prefer - Joel Courtney, Max Records or Zachary Gordon.

 

[Duke]

I really don't care which kid they cast, but I do want this movie made & most importantly, it remains faithful to the comic source.

 

[ЯɘvlveR]

i think a live action film would suck. someone in one of the others threads i think, mentioned that they should make it in the vein of megamind and the incredibles; i think that would be great for that franchise unless people want totally rework the origins otherwise, as is, i find that captain marvel's origins in a live action film would seem pretty campy.

 

[BruceWanner]

What would you guys think of Jason Momoa as Black Adam and Armie Hammer as Captain Marvel?

 

[Donnie Darko]

As far as actual tone goes, I think it needs to be a fun action/adventure movie like The Rocketeer.

 

[BruceWanner]

As far as actual tone goes, I think it needs to be a fun action/adventure movie like The Rocketeer.

That sounds interesting, but I'd lean a bit more towards the tone of Thor.

 

[gkokujin]

Edgar Wright could do it.

Robert Rodriguez could do it.

Peter Berg could do it.

it needs to be kid AND adult friendly.

 

[Rockstar]

I wouldn't mind a dark and serious reinterpretation of Shazam. One that lines up well with Man of Steel.

 

[BruceWanner]

Edgar Wright could do it.

Robert Rodriguez could do it.

Peter Berg could do it.

it needs to be kid AND adult friendly.

Agreed 100%!

 

[The Guard]

Yeah, I don't think I want Robert Rodriguez's brand of "kid friendly" anywhere near Shazam.

 

[Rodrigo90]

And certainly not Roman Polanski's idea of kid friendly...

 

[TheComicbookKid]

With Johns pushing his Flashpoint Shazam team into main continuity, what do people think of that idea?

I mean, there's a little bit better idea of how to do it since S.H.A.Z.A.M is like every Captain Planet or He-Man tone kids show.

 

[Daniel Thompson]

I rather they use Robert Rodriquez brand of adult friendly.

 

[Daniel Thompson]

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?

I do not see how a Tarantino style Shazam film would work.

 

[TheWatcher]

I think the tone of the Shazam movie should be like Iron Man.

 

[metaphysician]

I disagree, I think a Shazam movie should be somewhat brighter. It almost has to be, it has a kid hero. Kid hero + dark grittiness is a bad combination.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I think Super 8 had a good tone for shazaam. in fact, J.J abrams would make an awesome film out of this imo.

 

[The Guard]

There's never been a movie with the combination of tones SHAZAM needs to have. SHAZAM should be something new entirely.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Well, if the Rock takes Lobo, I'd change direction in Black Adam and have say Holt McCallany from Lights Out.