Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson To Executive Produce ‘Shazam!’ Movie

The first details regarding the upcoming Shazam! movie surfaced on Monday, including the news that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will executive produce.

Johnson was originally slated to appear in the movie as Shazam’s nemesis Black Adam. While many expect him to appear at least in cameo form thanks to rumor mills, the actor and producer will be executive producing the film along with his Seven Bucks Production team of Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia, as well as Christopher Godsick and Jeffrey Chernov.

Prior to Johnson’s departure from a starring role, Hiram Garcia opened up about the Shazam! movie while speaking to ComicBook.com. “There’s a great opportunity between [Black Adam and Shazam],” Garcia said. “I was always a fan of Superman and his mythology as I grew up. I remember it was Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come that was the first time that ever made me look at Shazam just differently. I always knew of Shazam but I thought Alex Ross portrayed him and drew him in a bada–, epic way that helped support the epic conflict him and Superman had. It just made me look at Shazam and think ‘This is a bad motherf—er!’”

More recently, however, Johnson told ComicBook.com the team involved with Shazam! have their own vision which he fully trusts (and is now clearly involved with). “I think they’ve got a great plan over there with him and I wish those guys the best of luck,” Johnson said. “We had to split the idea because the obviously idea was Black Adam and Shazam. So we split it. Those guys are gonna do great with it.”

Watch Johnson’s interview with ComicBook.com during a press event for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in the video at the top of the page.

David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation) directs the origin story, which stars Zachary Levi (Chuck) as the titular DC Super Hero, along with Asher Angel (Andi Mack) as Billy Batson, and Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service) in the role of Super-Villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. Peter Safran (Aquaman, The Conjuring) serves as the film’s producer.

Shazam! is set for release on April 5, 2019.