Shazam Movie News: New Line Cinema To Produce DC Superhero Film As Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Cast As Black Adam Confirmed!

A tweet by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson earlier today revealed that he would be playing Black Adam in a movie based on DC's Shazam. The announcement is nothing short of a surprise, mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, Black Adam is a fictional comic book super villain in the Shazam mythology. The other reason is that many of the recent talks around the cinema DC universe had concentrated on Justice League characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Batman.

Shazam will be produced by New Line Cinema, subsidiary of Warner Bros.

New Line president Toby Emmerich in his telephonic conversation with Entertainment Weekly made it clear that the film will not be a typical superhero movie. "It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself," he added, "It's a DC comic, but it's not a Justice League character, and it's not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies."

Emmerich does not directly address any of the plot elements of Shazam. In answer to where Shazam would fall on the superhero movie range I.E. dark and gritty to light and peppy, Emmerich said that the movie "will have a sense of fun and a sense of humor. But the stakes have to be real."

Who would play the titular character is still not known. Despite of the fact that New Line is not affirming the existence of Marvel family member Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel, Emmerich is enthusiastic about Dwayne Johnson being added to the DC Universe.

Emmerich defines Black Adam as an antihero. He said, "Black Adam is a complex character," says Emmerich. "The villain in superhero movies is often, I think, what makes the movie. And I thought Dwayne's take on the character, and the way that he saw Black Adam, was really compelling and fun."

Though writer Darren Lemke (Jack the Giant Slayer) has been hired for the project, an official release date for Shazam is yet to be announced.