Shazam! To Split Into Two Films: Dwayne Johnson To Star As ‘Black Adam’

The New Line DC property Shazam! has morphed into two pictures. Black Adam has proved vibrant enough to become its own film, to star Dwayne Johnson. Originally, the plan was for him to play the character in Shazam!, which is the tale of a teen boy who can transform himself into a superhero by speaking the word “Shazam!”

Black Adam is his arch-nemesis and a complex antihero with a rich history of his own. As the studio began to figure out the movie, they realized, why not a twin bill? Johnson, who was excited enough about his meeting last week at the studio to tweet it (after a hard shoot on the newest Fast & Furious installment), has done well with New Line, most recently teaming with Kevin Hart in Central Intelligence and the global blockbuster San Andreas. He’s prepping the monster destruction picture Rampage that is on New Line’s 2018 slate, and it looks like there’s yet another franchise for the amiable big man.

WME reps Johnson.