'Shazam' Sequel Bringing Back First Film's Writer; Director David F. Sandberg Expected To Return As Well

Shazam exceeded box office expectations, which meant it was only a matter of time before Warner Bros. went ahead and started thinking about the sequel. Sure enough, word is out that Henry Gayden, who wrote the first film, is set to write the Shazam sequel as well. Gayden is obviously moving up in the film world, since his only other feature writing credit before Shazam was the E.T. knock-off Earth to Echo.The Wrap broke the news about Henry Gayden writing the Shazam sequel. Director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran are also both expected to return. Obviously, with Shazam earning strong reviews and box office, Warner Bros. and New Line are taking a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the sequel. Here's the Shazam synopsis.

We all have a superhero inside of us — it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson's case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he'll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam's magical abilities.

Our own Hoai-Tran Bui reviewed the film, and loved it, writing:

A raucous, charming kid adventure that is a delight to behold from start to finish, Shazam! feels like a throwback both to '80s comedies and to the superhero movies of the early 2000s, with abundant callbacks to both genres. But rather than playing like an appeal to nostalgia, Shazam! is more of a spiritual throwback that captures the sincerity and silliness inherent in the superhero genre, while delivering a heartfelt story about the power of found families.

Over the weekend, Shazam took in $56.8 million domestically and $102.3 internationally, for a total  of $159.1 million. That may not be as big as some other superhero films, but Shazam was modestly budgeted, and featured a lead character not as familiar to casual movie goers as someone like Superman or Batman. It looks like strong word of mouth helped earn this film its success. I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed at the top of the box office until Avengers: Endgame arrived on April 26. Unless something like Hellboy knocks it out, which I seriously doubt will happen.