Shazam May Head Into Production In Early 2018, Dwayne Johnson Not Involved

Though it was first announced several years ago, there’s been little to no progress on Shazam. For one, the titular hero hasn’t been cast yet, and though a director is now in place in the form of David F. Sandberg, it would seem that production is moving along at a snail’s pace. Or at least, it was, as we’re now hearing that things are about to fire up.

The Wrap‘s Umberto Gonzalez took to Twitter earlier today to drop a few updates about the project. First off, he claims that Shazam may start filming in February 2018, which is surprising given the lack of progress that’s been made so far. Gonzalez is usually pretty accurate with his scoops though, so we’re inclined to believe him here.

In a separate Tweet, the writer also noted that Dwayne Johnson, who’s set to play Black Adam in the DCEU, will not be involved. This is surprising for a number of reasons, chief amongst them being that Johnson has been rumored to have a role in the film almost ever since it was first announced, not to mention that it’d probably be smart for the studio to throw him in, given that Shazam isn’t exactly a character who’s on the A-list and having a star like The Rock would ensure people buy tickets to see the movie.

If Gonzalez is right, and Shazam really is gearing up to head into production in February, then we imagine that some casting news (Armie Hammer?) will be announced quite soon. After all, with Comic-Con quickly approaching, the studio has the perfect chance to thrust the project into the spotlight.

While there’s no mention of when we may see the flick, we heard earlier tonight that Warner Bros. has snatched up two more release dates in 2020. Though previous reports pointed to Shazam possibly arriving in 2019, it’s possible that things have changed and it’s now set to touch down a bit later.

Honestly, it’s hard to say, since Warner Bros. hasn’t been telling us very much about their plans for the DCEU beyond 2018. Thankfully, Comic-Con is just a few days away now and with the studio set to hold a large panel on Saturday, it shouldn’t be too much longer before we learn more about both Shazam and the DC Extended Universe as a whole.