Zachary Levi heads to Toronto to film ‘Shazam’ likening the film to ‘Big’ with cosmic powers
Zachary Levi is officially headed to Toronto to begin working on the Shazam! movie.
During a video posted to Levi’s Instagram page, Levi opened up about his day-after-Christmas travels to get the ball rolling on the DC Films project. “We’re going to Toronto, guys,” Levi said. “We’re going to Toronto to make a little movie called Shazam!”
Sitting beside Levi in the video is Eric Blackmon, Levi’s friend, a photographer and recent workout buddy in preparation for the film.
Speaking at Heroes & Villains Fest, Levi opened up the film, hoping the film has the same impact on the DCU as Guardians of the Galaxy did for Marvel.
Using a lesser-known property, Marvel turned the cosmic team into a household name and a $200 million budget into nearly $800 million at the box office with the first movie.
“James Gunn and the gang killed it,” he said about Guardians. “It brought so much heart and humor and I think it was kinda like this dark horse that took everybody by storm. I think Shazam! kind of has the possibility to do that. Shazam! is not, for all intents and purposes, it’s not Supes, it’s not Batman, it’s not Wonder Woman.”
The story of a young boy (Billy Batson) who can turn into an adult superhero just by uttering a magic word has that innate sense of fun and wonder. An atypical premise and hero may just be the key to great reviews and even greater box-office returns. Billy Batson will be played by Asher Angel.
“It’s the movie Big, but with superpowers,” added Levi. “I love that Shazam gets to be that little boy in all of us or that little girl in all of us that is genuinely just, like, jacked and gets to fly around and beat up bad guys. Who doesn’t wanna do that? I wanna do that.”
Mark Strong is rumored to be playing Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who turns to magic to save his family and brings Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) into the fold to battle Shazam.
Jack Dylan Grazer will play Freddy Freeman, Billy’s friend who ultimately controls the powers of the Rock of Eternity and becomes a different Captain Marvel. Billy’s long lost sister will be played by Grace Fulton. Cooper Andrews plays a foster parent named Victor Vasquez.
Ian Chen and Jovan Armand also co-star. Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke wrote the screenplay, which Peter Safran is producing.
Shazam! arrives in theaters on April 5, 2019
