Shazam! is well on pace to make at least $50 million in its opening weekend and as positive reviews continue pouring in, it’s likely safe to say the latest film in the DCEU is going to be box office success. In the age of superhero blockbusters, they often keep most things under wraps ahead of release, even more so at the beginning when they’re just starting to cast actors.
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ComicBook.com spoke with Shazam! star Jovan Armand, who confirms the studio had him audition for a character under a different name. Armand plays Pedro Peña in the upcoming film, although he was initially under the assumption he was auditioning for a different character.
“No idea, actually,” Armand says when asked if knew which part he was auditioning for. “They actually gave me a separate name. I think it was Carlos or something.”
“But they did give the title, which was a dead giveaway for me, because I had already played Injustice: Gods Among Us before the audition process,” the actor admits. “So I already had an idea of the character, and I knew it was a real film, just reading the script that they gave us.”
As Armand says, other than some tighter security, the auditioning process was not unlike getting any other gig. He started out by auditioning with casting director Rich Delia and when he got a callback, he interviewed director David F. Sandberg in-character.
“The first one I knocked it out with Rich, who was the casting director. He was amazing,” Armand says. “Really easy to work with. Good at giving direction, and then I got a callback with a director session, and that’s when I got to meet David Sandberg for the first time.”
“He listened to me do the audition with the regular lines,” he continues. “And then Sandberg kind of said, ‘Well, there’s not really much to go on here, so let’s just throw the script out the window and do an interview as the character,’ so he actually ended up interviewing me as Pedro, and from there they decided they wanted to choose me.”
Shazam! hits theaters April 5th. Other upcoming DC films include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.
How much money do you think Shazam! will make in its opening weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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