Shazam! movie news

[Raph's Girl]

Dwayne Johnson, the actor formerly known as "The Rock," confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he will play the villainous Black Adam in the upcoming Shazam! movie, and not the superhero Captain Marvel—a choice he made at the urging of fans at Comic-Con and elsewhere.

"And talking to those fans down there, they had talked up to me about, you know, 'There's also this great character called Black Adam,'" Johnson said in an interview while promoting his upcoming SF movie Southland Tales. "I said, 'Oh, really? Tell me about it.' And they were telling me all about it. And I got some more history about Black Adam, and I just found Black Adam, just for me personally, more interesting to play. He's really a badass character. I love that."

Black Adam is a super human who is the flipside of Captain Marvel, according to Wikipedia. "When I was doing the junket for the Game Plan, someone had asked me about Shazam! again, and I said, 'Well, to be honest with you, ... what I would like to see is for the fans to decide who they would like me to play,'" Johnson said, adding: "Considering how passionate the fans are about this, I said, 'I don't believe it's up to the studio or the director or myself.' So there's [Captain Marvel]. And there's Black Adam. And I said, 'So, you guys let me know who?' And across the board, it was all Black Adam."

Shazam!, based on the classic DC Comics series, centers on Billy Batson, a young boy who gains the ability to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel by saying the magic word 'Shazam!'

Johnson's Get Smart helmer Peter Segal will direct Shazam!, which is written by John August (Corpse Bride). Johnson said that August turned in his most recent draft of the script on Nov. 2 in advance of an impending writers' strike. Shooting is expected to take place in late 2008, after Johnson completes his role in Disney's upcoming Witch Mountain.

Booya!! The Rock is Black Adam!