Making Shazam! A Christmas Movie Presented All Sorts Of Challenges
For decades we've been debating whether or not Die Hard a movie released in July, that takes place during the holidays, should be considered a "Christmas movie." Get ready for the next big holiday debate, because Shazam! will also be set during the happiest season of all, even though it will be released in April. Last year I got a chance to visit the set of the new DC movie and director David F. Sandberg explained that while the film's themes lent themselves to a Christmas setting, the decision to do so kinda sucked because filming in Toronto in the winter is no fun. According to Sandberg...
In addition to dealing with the weather in Toronto, which had suffered an ice storm shortly before I arrived, there was the added issue that many of the actors are minors. Because they were under 18, there were limits to how much they could work in a given day, and that many more limits if the kids worked into the night.
Certainly, things would have been easier if the movie had been filmed at a different time of year. However, since the idea of family is an important aspect of the film, the group of foster kids all needed to be there, and because a major sequence takes place at a winter carnival, a lot of the movie had to be shot at night. My set visit was a fairly cold experience during the day. I got to see the carnival set that David F. Sandberg refers to here but it was during the day, and as David F. Sandberg says here, it just wouldn't have looked impressive on film.
While the experience of making the movie might not have been that much fun, the final result, as least as far as the trailers go, look quite fun. The story of Shazam! sees a 14-year-old boy (Asher Angel) living every kid's dream when he's given superpowers. The character certainly has fun, even if the actor did not.
Shazam! will be out in theaters in April which means it will likely be hitting Blu-ray in time to be available for Christmas season. Will Shazam! become a new Christmas action movie staple? The cast and crew would probably appreciate that considering the work they put in for it.
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CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.