Five Projects for DCE to Jump On, Day 3: ‘Shazam’

It didn’t matter that DC Comics sued Fawcett Comics in 1953 for copyright infringement due to Fawcett’s Captain Marvel looking too similar to Superman.   DC would end up owning everything Captain Marvel in the early ’90s, implanting the character firmly into the DC Universe, and making various attempts over the year at reviving the character in their own series.   Of course, in the interim, Marvel Comics trademarked their own Captain Marvel, and the title of DC’s character was changed to Shazam!.   Regardless of what you call the character, he’s a square-jawed throwback to the old-school superhero look that, with all the nostalgic love for the ’50s going around, would be a perfect character to supplant in to the world of film.

New Line agrees with this assessment.   As early as 2002, New Line was in negotiations with DC to bring the Captain Marvel/Shazam! storyline to the big screen.   Quotes from, then, DC President Paul Levitz even expressed enthusiasm in getting the property moved to the film world.

We’re pleased to be developing one of the gems of our library with one of our sister companies.

Both being owned by Warner Brothers didn’t hurt the negotiations in getting the deal done.   In March of 2003, it was announced two-time Oscar winner William Goldman had come on board the project to adapt the comic into a feature film screenplay.

Said Goldman at the time:

I started collecting comics in 1938.  I was a lunatic comicbook lover, and I had everything. (This project) is a big deal for me. I hope I don’t screw it up.

New Line production prexy, at that time, Toby Emmerich said the film was “the ultimate kid wish-fulfillment movie.”  The film was slated for a Christmas 2004 or Summer 2005 release.  Of course, ‘Shazam!’ didn’t make those dates, and a number of screenwriters were brought in to take passes on polishing and rewriting the film.  Among those screenwriters were Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, the writing duo behind ‘Toy Story’,’Money Talks,’ and ‘Garfield.’

At this time, several directors were being considered to helm the ‘Shazam!’ adaptation.  One such director, Sandy Collora, was one of these directors.  If you don’t recognize the name, surely you will recognize his early, independent work.  He’s the guy behind the short ‘Batman: Dead End’ that pits Batman against not only the Joker but Aliens and Predators, as well.  Collora also directed a faux trailer for a films called ‘World Finest,’ a Batman/Superman crossover film.

On a message board recently, Collora spoke on his days of being considered for the director’s chair for ‘Shazam!’

I was given several scripts to read, including Shazam and Creature From the Black Lagoon . The industry term for that, from what I can gather, is called ‘being considered to direct’. I was very interested in both of those projects and had several meetings at New Line and Universal respectively, to talk about my thoughts on the scripts and how I would approach each of those projects. It was all very exciting… I had a lot of interesting ideas regarding how to achieve cinematically, what I’d read in those scripts. The William Goldman script I was given for Shazam was excellent. I really felt that movie literally jumping off the pages at me. It hit all the right notes and was exceptionally well written. It had kind of a Norman Rockwell innocence to it. Very Americana. Very Spielbergian. I would have loved to have done that film as a post World War 2, period piece… Late 40’s or early 50’s.

Collora did not get the job, and it was announced in 2006 that Peter Segal had stepped in as director of the film.  Having helmed such films as ‘Tommy Boy,’ ‘Anger Management,’ and ‘The Longest Yard,’ it wasn’t hard to realize New Line was going for a much lighter tone than your typical, comic book fare.  It was at this time that ‘Titan A.E.’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ screenwriter John August was announced to be on board to rewrite the screenplay once again.  It was also with the announcement of Segal coming on board that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be on board the film to star.  There were rumors back and forth whether Johnson would be playing Captain Marvel or his arch-nemesis Black Adam.  In fact, in September of 2007, Johnson told MTV News that it would be “up to the fans” which of the two character he would play.

During this time in pre-production, New Line was swallowed entirely by sister company, Warner Brothers.  After the monster success of ‘The Dark Knight’ and the disappointing failure of ‘Speed Racer’ at the 2008 box office, Warner decided they wanted ‘Shazam!’ to take on a much darker tone.  August would even go so far in early 2009 to say the film was “dead.”  There is a monster article August posted on his blog around this time.  You can still check it out, but here is the gist:

By “dead,” I mean that it won’t be happening. I don’t think it’s on the studio’s radar at all. It may come back in another incarnation, with another writer, but I can say with considerable certainty that it won’t be the version I developed.

It was announced last month that Bill Burch, an actor who has appeared in shows like “90210” and “CSI: Miami,” had stepped into the screenwriters seat.  Long-time DC writing mainstay, Geoff Johns, would serve as consultant and co-writing with Burch on the project.

And, this is where the long and winding road of a ‘Shazam!’ motion picture leaves us.  Peter Segal is still set to direct.  Burch and Johns are still on board as screenwriters, though, I’m sure, by now, they are all but done with the script.  As far as anyone can tell, Johnson is attached, though his ultimate role in the film will be anyone’s guess at this point.

With Segal firmly in place as director, I guess there isn’t much merit in trying to determine who would make a good director.  The intentions of DCE should, if they want to make megablockbusters, be to mimick everything Marvel is doing right.  At this stage in the game, that is hiring serious directors and serious actors to make their comic book movies have the look and feel of adult motion pictures.  From what we’ve seen so far, Segal is not the choice that is going to give them that.

Neither is Johnson if he is to fill the part of Captain Marvel.  However, as Black Adam, you couldn’t have a much closer resemblance than The Rock.  It’s not like Johnson is a typical, wrestler-turned-actor musclehead, either.  The guy’s got charisma, and, in his hands, the part of Black Adam in the film could be a grand success.

This leaves the quandery of who should be playing the lead role.  You have to go back to who inspired the look of Captain Marvel in the first place.  Hollywood stars like Fred MacMurray and Carey Grant wore the faces that inspired the artists behind Captain Marvel’s look, and the people behind the new film should not shy away from that ’50s, chiseled look one bit.  The person to don the red suite and white cape should not be a big star.  Casting someone like George Clooney would be like Ben Affleck in ‘Hollywoodland,’ it would just look like Clooney in a Captain Marvel outfit.

Say what you will about it being a bit of pigeon-holing, but I think a perfect choice for Captain Marvel would be Jon Hamm.  As the star of “Mad Men,” he has the perfect look of an everyman living in the ’50s.  Of course, this would mean the film would have to center on Captain Marvel in his later years.  Hamm is approaching 40, and the ‘Shazam!’ story would begin when the character is 12.  Hamm could pull off a younger age, maybe not teenage young, but younger than his own, current age.  Plus, Hamm is on the cusp of being a breakout star, and his presence wouldn’t overshadow the Captain Marvel suit.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s name has been bantered around for the role, one of about three dozen superheroes the star has been pencilled into by fans and, probably, producers alike.  He certainly has the look, the acting ability, and the age to play a young Billy Batson, but you have to wonder if Gyllenhaal isn’t too big a star to play the part.  Also, it would seem more likely producers would want someone who, as far as appearances go, is around the same age as the film’s villain.  Gyllenhaal is eight years younger than Dwayne Johnson, but he even looks younger.

Regardless of who steps into the Captain Marvel suit, they will have come to the end of a long and storied history.  Of all the projects we are commenting on in this five-part series, ‘Shazam!’ seems the least likely of actually getting made.  The main character is very similar to Superman.  There is a reason DC sued Fawcett all those years ago.  Also, Captain Marvel/Shazam! is the least well-known out of all of these.  Look for DCE to step into ‘The Flash’ and ‘Wonder Woman’ before turning their attention to ‘Shazam!’.