Shazam 2 Director Gives BTS Look at Sequel’s Special Effects
Director David F. Sandberg has offered a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of special effects for his upcoming movie, Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Shazam! 2's director David F. Sandberg has offered a behind-the-scenes look at the movie's special effects. Sandberg's first Shazam! movie came out in 2019, chronicling the tale of troubled orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel) as he acquired the ability to transform into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi). In the movie, Billy's superhero alter-ego Shazam faces off against the evil Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) and the Seven Deadly Sins with the help of his superpowered foster family, defeating and imprisoning them all by the film's end. The film proved to be a decent success at the box office, with Shazam! grossing a whopping $366 million at the box office against its modest $80-100 million budge. At the same time, it garnered critical acclaim for its light-hearted tone and sense of fun. A sequel was subsequently announced only four days after the movie's premiere, and it's now scheduled to release on June 2, 2023.
Titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the new movie began filming in Atlanta in May 2021. Production was originally scheduled to commence in August 2020, with the release initially set for April 2022. But those plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and hence the sequel took some extra time to get off the ground. Still, despite the roadblocks, Shazam! 2 was able to finish filming by August 31, 2021, and now it's already a significant way through post-production as well.
Recently, David F. Sandberg shared a behind-the-scenes shot from the movie's post-production phase on Instagram, offering a look at how the special effects are being developed. Sandberg revealed that he is using the stock footage, Action Essentials 2, available on Video Copilot's design products library to create VFX for the superhero transformations, particularly for the smoke that appears when the characters switch from teenagers to adults. He also posted an image of his workplace, which is decidedly more confining than his well-illuminated and ventilated pre-production office. Take a look at Sandberg's post below.
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At the moment, plot details for Shazam! 2 are slim. But the details that have been revealed about the movie have sure stirred up much excitement. The new movie will see the Shazam family going up against the two evil daughters of the Greek God Atlas, Hespera, played by Helen Mirren, and Kalypso, played by Lucy Liu. West Side Story's Rachel Zegler is expected to play Atlas' third daughter, although the actress insists that no one has guessed her character correctly so far. Sandberg has also hyped Shazam! 2 to be deeper and more expansive than the original movie, although the true scope will probably be teased during the upcoming DC FanDome, which includes new details about Shazam! 2.
With the movie not slated to premiere for the next two years, fans need something to tide them over. Thankfully, Sandberg realizes this, and hence, he keeps Shazam! enthusiasts in the loop about the development of his sequel. In the past few months, Sandberg has made it evident that the new movie will be more visually sophisticated and less goofy than the original. This notion was further solidified when the Shazam family's new costumes were revealed, which were a significant upgrade from their old ones. Thus, keeping in line with the tone of the sequel, the special effects also require considerable reworking. As shown by his new post, Sandberg's already at the job, but fans will still have to wait for a Shazam! 2 teaser or trailer to see if the transformation and action sequences have been spruced up.
Source: David F. Sandberg