LIGHTS OUT Director is In Talks to Direct Dwayne Johnson in SHAZAM

I haven't had a chance to see Lights Out, director David F. Sandberg's successful horror film from last year, but it appears that someone from New Line Cinema likes what they saw from the up-and-coming filmmaker. The Wrap reports that Sandberg is now in talks to direct Shazam, the long-gestating superhero film that will star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the villainous Black Adam.

Johnson has been teasing this film for years now, but the slow development of the project means he's been unscathed as the DC Extended Universe has gotten off to an extremely rocky start creatively with Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. We don't even know who would be playing the title hero in the film yet, but it almost doesn't matter because Johnson himself is one of the most charismatic movie stars in Hollywood and is quite the draw on his own. In my mind, Sandberg already has a potential hit on his hands here; it's just his job to figure out how to avoid screwing it up and adding some signature touches of his own to the project (if WB ends up allowing any kind of filmmaker-driven creativity moving forward in the DCEU, that is).

Shazam currently has an April 5th, 2019 release date, but Johnson has hinted that could get moved up if the right circumstances occur. We'll follow along closely to see if that ends up happening.