'Shazam!' is extraordinarily funny: Producer

"Shazam!" is an ultimate wish fulfilment movie, says producer Peter Safran.

Set firmly in the DC universe with his own distinctly fun, family-centric tone, the superhero film is a story of wish fulfilment. Teen orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is granted the ability by an ancient wizard to transform into a super-powered adult with strength, invincibility, flight and other powers -- all by saying the wizard's name: Shazam.

Directed by David F. Sandberg, this film is based on how we all have a superhero inside us and it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. The Warner Bros Pictures project will release in India on April 5.

"He's very different than a lot of the other superheroes that are out there, frankly than any of the other superheroes out there, and I think that that's one thing that's really going to set 'Shazam!' apart from the other superhero movies that have come down the pipeline over the course of the last decade," Safran said in a statement.

"He is a kid in a superhero's body. It's the ultimate wish fulfillment movie. And it's extraordinarily funny. Everybody can relate to the idea of what would you do if today you were suddenly a superhero? How would you respond to that? And the answer to that question is very different when you're a 14-year-old boy than when you're already an adult," he added.

Talking about the director, Safran said: "First of all, David is a complete filmmaker. I've said before that he is very much the spiritual successor to James Wan, and both of them came through horror into the DC universe.

"I think that David brings to the table those same qualities of being a total filmmaker, that he really understands, in a holistic fashion, everything about putting a movie together and making it right and rooting it in character, not in spectacle; he knows that the spectacle will come, but you have to root it in character.

"I think David had a real clarity of vision in terms of what he wanted to do with this, how he wanted to tell Billy's story, and how he ultimately wanted to connect Billy with his foster siblings in a way that truly could bring good to the world."

What do you want audiences to experience when they see the film?

"This movie is a super fun action comedy with tremendous heart at its centre, that's also grounded in reality because it's set in a real city, Philadelphia. It's got a lot of the elements audiences responded to so positively in 'Aquaman', and I think if they enjoyed that, they will have a lot of fun with 'Shazam!'."

--IANS

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