Shazam! was a massive hit for Warner Bros, New Line, and DC, so it was only a matter of time before they got the ball rolling on a follow-up. However, it sounds like Billy Batson won’t be coming back to theaters until after his archenemy gets his own film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jaume Collet-Serra has just signed on to direct Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming Black Adam movie.
Collet-Serra made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with House of Wax. More recently, he helmed the shark attack thriller The Shallows in 2016 and has also directed four action vehicles for Liam Neeson: Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter. He’s currently working on Disney’s Jungle Cruise, based on their amusement park ride of the same name. Johnson will appear in that film as well.
RELATED: Dwayne Johnson Talks Black Adam After Shazam! Opens Big
Johnson has been attached to star as Black Adam since 2014. The character was originally slated to appear in Shazam! before he was ultimately cut from the script. Director David F. Sandberg previously said this was because he didn’t think he could do the character justice in a film that also featured Shazam’s origin story. Regardless, Black Adam was referenced in the film as the wizard’s previous champion who unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins.
Johnson himself also commented on Black Adam’s development shortly after Shazam!’s opening. Apparently, Johnson deserves a lot of the credit for the studios’ decision to grant the character his own standalone feature.
What do you think of WB’s decision to hire Collet-Serra to direct Black Adam? Would you like to see Zachary Levi’s Shazam make a cameo in the film? Give us your impressions in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading – Shazam! Vol. 1: The Seven Magic Lands Part 1
