‘Shazam!’ Director Addresses Reports Of $1 Million Price Tag For Costume

So, did the Shazam! costume really cost more than a million dollars?

Kind of, but not in the way you probably think, according to the film’s director, David F. Sandberg.

After a recent story that went viral pricing the superhero costume at $1 million or more, Sandberg was tagged on Reddit to respond to what many fans thought sounded like an exorbitant price tag.

What he said was that the million likely included a lot of time, effort, and failed attempts to get the costume to what fans see onscreen.

“I never saw a price tag so I don’t know the exact number. Wouldn’t surprise me though,” the director posted. “The thing is that it’s not the price for one suit. In developing a suit like this you basically have to build it several times over to get things right. Like there were many different bolts made. Ones with different bolt shapes, ones with different ways of lighting up, etc. There were different versions of the fabric made in different shades, different patterns, and so on and different version had to be camera tested.”

Even after the design was finalized, he explained, it was not all about just paying to build a suit from those specifications. There were a lot of other variables that are not immediately obvious to fans.

“Once you nail down the design, the material and all other details you then have to make multiples and ones for stunts etc.,” Sandberg continued. “Even during shooting you have to do upgrades. Like some of you have seen in early pics the boots were originally very different but those were falling apart and had to be redesigned. The internal wiring to light up the bolt and gauntlets turned out to be too thin and would break so that had to be updated with a new system and so on. The early gauntlets restricted Zac’s hand movement too much. So it’s not like it’s one million dollars in material, or that making one of these would cost that much. It’s the whole process and making multiple copies and versions.”

Shazam! hits theaters on April 5th, 2019.