Captain Marvel Tagged Articles at Cinematical

By: John Gholson

Screenwriter John August declared the Shazam feature film completely dead in January 2009, unable to come up with a screenplay that seemed to satisfy Warner Bros. "By "dead," I mean that it won't be happening. I don't think it's on the studio's radar at all, " August stated in a blog post.

I'm happy to report that John August was wrong. Shazam is most definitely on Warner Bros radar, and they've tasked DC Comics scribe Geoff Johns and rookie screenwriter Bill Birch with a new version of the script. Birch spoke to CineFOOLS about the project, "The way the story is shaking out, Geoff and I see this not as 'dark' as Dark Knight but definitely as cool...Tonally, I think it's important to successfully find the balance of comedy and danger in the story. That's a major aspect I'm focusing on. Frankly, hitting the right tone is what's going to either get this made or keep it in development hell."

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

He may have lost the talents of John August, but Shazam! is still alive and well at Warner Bros, and here's the proof. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Segal is still attached to direct, and the studio just hired actor-turned-writer Billy Birch to cowrite the script with Geoff Johns.

Captain Marvel is just one of many characters that Warner Bros and DC Comics is gearing up for a big-screen debut. Back in July, it was reported that the studio and comic company had reunited in a stronger, healthier relationship that both hoped would emulate the creative community at Marvel Studios. Johns, Grant Morrison and Marv Wolfman have been brought aboard to act as consultants, and Shazam! is just one of the properties benefiting from their influence.

The Shazam! movie has lacked the god driven powers of its hero, and has seen a lot of stops and starts in recent years, and finally seemed to be taking shape once August came on board as a writer, and Dwayne Johnson fueled fan buzz by having fans cast him in the film. (THR is mum as to whether he's still attached.) I really hope the sixth time(?) is the charm, and that Billy Batson finally gets his chance to transform. He's a character that has a lot of fans of all ages, and is poised to make a lot more in this superhero crazed era.

So remember that whole Shazam! movie, with John August writing, Peter Segal (Get Smart) directing and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson starring as the villain, Black Adam? Last year we talked about this project a lot, wondering which actor would eventually play Captain Marvel, as well as teenager Billy Batson. In fact, as recently as November of 2008, Variety had reported that Shazam! was part of Segal's first-look deal with Warner Brothers. (The project was originally set up at New Line, but moved to Warners when they went under.)

However, over on his blog, August says the project is now dead in the water after several re-writes, most of which came about after the studio wanted him to take the film from a lighter action-comedy to something much darker (a la The Dark Knight). And regarding the recent news that Segal would be directing, August notes that "press releases often have little relationship to reality." He does admit, though, that the movie may still happen ... just not with him onboard and not anytime soon. Which is a shame, because this pitch -- "Like Big, but with superpowers ..." -- definitely had potential.

Were you looking forward to Shazam!?

The Captain Marvel film seems to finally be moving forward again, if this Variety item is anything to go by. Get Smart's Peter Segal has set a first-look deal at Warner Bros., and as part of the deal the studio acquired the John August-scripted Captain Marvel which Segel is still in line to direct.

The film was originally set up at New Line, but we all remember what happened there, so Marvel fans will be relieved to know he's got a new studio to call home -- and one that all his DC friends are at. I'm curious about the title switch ... are they going to retitle it Captain Marvel, and risk everyone being confused as to which comic brand he belongs to?

The last word we had on the project was precisely a year ago, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson signed on to play the villainous Black Adam. Variety makes no mention as to whether he's still attached. I hope he is, the fans chose him! You can't recast after a stunt like that.

Considering it has a script, a director, a villain, and a studio, all Shazam/Marvel needs is its hero, and it could be on the big screen before Warner Bros decides what to do with Superman. I'm not the biggest fan of the character, but he's a perfect one for the kids, especially in this era of dark and gritty superheroes.

Though his role in the film isn't official yet, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson told MTV that he's in the process of working on playing Black Adam in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular comic Shazam! Not long ago, MTV sat down with The Rock (who's been a frontrunner to star in Shazam! for quite awhile now), and the actor asked fans to choose which role they'd rather see him in: the hero, Captain Marvel, or the villain, Black Adam. Fans overwhelmingly picked The Rock to play Black Adam (probably because they're itching to see the tough guy take on a villainous role for once), and Rock confirmed to MTV that the role is currently being shaped to suit him. While out promoting Southland Tales, The Rock said he'd be meeting with director Peter Segal later that night to discuss the part further.

Now all they need to do is find their Captain Marvel, aka Billy Batson, and it will be interesting to see if they attempt to pull off both with one actor. Batson is a regular old teenager who's chosen by a wizard named Shazam! to the the champion of good. And every time Batson utters the words "Shazam!" a lightening bolt strikes and transforms him into an adult by the name of Captain Marvel. So do they get an actor in his early 20s, try to pass him off as a teen and then age him up to play the Captain? Early rumors suggested Jake Gyllenhaal was up for the part, but screenwriter John August squashed that. Who would you like to see play Captain Marvel and/or Billy Batson? Should they try to work around one actor, or bring on two? Shazam! is set to hit theaters at some point in 2009.

We all know casting isn't as easy as looking at a contender and saying yay or nay. Sometimes actors get moved around to different parts -- sometimes making them stars, and sometimes making them sidekicks. But how often is a big name up for two lead roles in one movie -- and wants the fans to decide? The Rock, otherwise known as Dwayne Johnson, told MTV News that he is looking into two polar-opposite parts in the upcoming superhero movie, Shazam! -- both hero Captain Marvel and villain Black Adam. He's not too keen on picking, so: "It's up to the fans."

First up: Captain Marvel. The DC Comics superhero wears a shiny red bodysuit, gold accessories, and a pretty fancy cape. He's the alter ego of Billy Batson, a young kid who works as a radio news reporter, but is chosen by the wizard Shazam to be a hero. When he says the wizard's name, he's struck by a magical lightning bolt that gives him tons of powers, muscles, and makes him The World's Mightiest Mortal.

The other choice: Black Adam. This is the black nemesis to Captain Marvel, wearing a similar, all-black superhero ensemble. He's the hero's most powerful foe -- having had a similar run-in with Shazam, but using it for corrupt means. Having been a hero, a villain, and later a struggling antihero, Black Adam has been all over the map.

Looking at the two comic heroes on Wikipedia, The Rock looks the part for both of them -- if they can find a mini-Rock to play the non-powered Batson. So, who do you pick?

In covering the San Diego ComicCon, Geoff Boucher's Los Angeles Times blog notes that writer-director John August will not be in attendance, since he's toiling away on New Line's film adaptation of Shazam!, the Captain Marvel movie. As has been reported, Jake Gyllenhaal and The Rock are two possible candidates to play the superhero, possibly in the before and after transformation. The Captain is a crippled newsboy named Billy Batson who is endowed by a Dumbledorish wizard to transform himself into a mighty scarlet-clad superhero. Captain Marvel has been on screen since the Republic serial of 1941 when Tom Tyler played him, even though Captain Marvel looks awfully like Fred MacMurray in C. C. Beck's classic comic books. In August's own blog, the perennial collaborator with Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, et al) tried to describe his own geek-free vision of what's going on. He includes a cheat sheet to describe some of the better moments in print with the Big Red Cheese...none of the comic book pics include Frank Miller's DK 2, where Miller proposed an interesting theory: That Captain Marvel's alter-ego Billy Batson could die of old age, leaving him trapped in that big torso and doorman's costume.

Boucher talks about August's provocative remarks, but here's the entire quote from August's blog (words that will really make the old-time fans of Captain Marvel wish they had a large Styrofoam boulder to throw at him): "Every time I read one of these [comic books]," says August, "I'm struck with the same realization I encounter trying to watch The Honeymooners or a black-and-white movie. Wow. Old thing suck." He goes on to add: "... Old-time comic books were awkwardly written, crudely drawn, and bewilderingly inconsistent with their rules. They were making up the art form as they went along, and today's comic books are better for the accumulated wisdom." The breezy inconsistency between an art form sucking and yet having accumulated wisdom bypasses August. One had to be grateful for the correspondent who wrote into August saying "Pretty harsh words from the guy who wrote the film version of Charlie's Angels" ... even if he did put a smiley emoticon next to it. Check out the LA Times story for more on the movie, including when it's set, what Captain Marvel will look like and who might play villain.

Edited to correct quote.

Though Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has dabbled in video game adaptations (Doom) and big-budget fantasy flicks (The Scorpion King), surprisingly, he has yet to try on a superhero costume. But that might change, as the actor has expressed interest in playing Captain Marvel for the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Shazam! And while I'm certainly curious to see how they plan to take some scrawny 10 year-old kid and turn him into The Rock after muttering that oh-so magical word, I do think the dude is a much better choice than, say, Jake Gyllenhaal. (Of course, there are thousands of teenage girls who might think otherwise -- Jake, we love you!!)

In speaking with IGN, Rock admits that director Peter Segal has already lodged the Captain Marvel nugget in his head. He says, "Listen, John August is writing the script. He's a tremendous writer and [I'll] wait for the script to come in. But I would love to work with Pete [Segal] again, and certainly I've loved everything John August has written so it's a strong possibility." I love how he opens the sentence with "Listen ...," as if he's going to follow it up with "And if you have a problem with that then we can step outside." For those who aren't aware, The Rock is currently starring alongside Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in Get Smart; a film that is also being helmed by Segal -- hence the reason why the question was asked.

When asked whether Captain Marvel would be a "man in tights" or if Segal was going to update the superhero's look, The Rock lifted one eyebrow (okay, I'm not sure that he did this, but it makes the story sound better) and replied: "Well, knowing Pete he would update [it]. [Segal]'s very excited about the project and understandably so, and he talks about it with passion. Pete also understands the importance of making sure to get that right. He's a big comic book fan. I don't know if you know that." Actually, I didn't know that; then again, there have been other directors who were so-called "big comic book fans," but their movies didn't exactly turn out so great. However, I have faith that John August will a) turn in a fine script and b) let us all know, through his blog, whether or not The Rock rumor is a valid one.

John August is a talented screenwriter who wrote both Charlie's Angels films (hey, somebody had to get each ass jiggle down on paper!) and is a favorite of Tim Burton, having worked on scripts for Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the massively disappointing Corpse Bride. In my opinion, August has never equaled his incredible script for 1999's Go, one of the most underappreciated films of the 90's, but the guy's got the goods. He also has an endlessly informative and always humorous screenwriting blog that should be required reading for any aspiring writer. On it, he debunks the rumor floating around the internet right now that Jake Gyllenhaal has been tapped to play Captain Marvel in Shazam! - the script August is currently working on. He does say in the entry that Gyllenhaal is likely to be one of the names mentioned for the role when the time comes, but that those discussions aren't even close to starting. We covered the Gyllenhaal rumor last week, but, it should be noted, we did not present it as fact. The direct link to August's response is here.

According to August, casting for Shazam! "has come up exactly zero times" and the project "currently has no start date, no release date, no movie whatsoever. There's just a script to be written. Which I should probably get back to." So there you have it. Don't rule Mr. Darko out, but he's nowhere near getting fitted for a codpiece just yet. Peter Segal is scheduled to direct Shazam!, which we'll more than likely see in 2008. Segal seems like an odd choice, as thus far he's only shot comedies, and mostly terrible ones (though to be fair, he does have one genuinely hilarious flick under his belt). August's directorial debut, The Nines, with Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis, premiered to great notices at Sundance in January, and was recently picked up by GreeneStreet Films. Hopefully we can look forward to that this year.

[via IGN]

It appears there's a bit of a tug-of-war going on right now over the hunky Jake Gyllenhaal. However, instead of two females fighting for his love, a couple of Hollywood heavyweights are fighting to attach the star to one of two high profile projects. The New York Daily News gossip columnists Rush & Molloy (not exactly reliable sources, we know) tell us New Line is preparing to offer Gyllenhaal a massive payday to take on the role of Captain Marvel in Shazam!, yet another comic book-turned-feature film project to be directed by Peter Segal and written by John August. Studio views Shazam! as having the potential to be a huge franchise -- along the lines of both Batman and Spider-Man -- but only if they can sign up the right talent.

There's one small problem though: New Line is trying to act real fast so that Sam Raimi and the folks behind the Spider-Man franchise don't convince Gyllenhaal to replace Tobey Maguire instead. With his boyish good looks and ability to pack on some muscle and the charm, Gyllenhaal would be a perfect replacement for Maguire -- one that would definitely help the series continue and, perhaps, help attract an even larger fanbase. But would he make a good Captain Marvel? In Shazam!, a teenage boy named Billy Batson finds he has the ability to transform into an adult superhero when he utters the magic word, Shazam! So, if Gyllenhaal does land the role, would he play both the teenager and the adult superhero? Will New Line update the story so that Batson is a tad older, this way an actor can play both roles (like in Batman and Spider-Man)? What do you think -- would Gyllenhaal be better as Captain Marvel or as the new Spider-Man?

[via JoBlo]