\"I\'ve never been to Comic-Con. I\'m sure I will be going d" />
L.A. Times Blog talks with screenwriter John August, who they say is skipping Comic-Con so he can work on first draft of 'Shazam!' for New Line Cinema.
"I've never been to Comic-Con. I'm sure I will be going down the road. I hear it's pretty intense, pretty massive."
August said his work on 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' likely led to this project: "Like Charlie, Billy Batson has an innate goodness, he's is pure, and that is why Billy is chosen to be a hero and why Charlie succeeds."
The core problem of 'Shazam!' that August is facing is answering the question "Why would Billy every change back from a superhero into a powerless kid?"
"That's absolutely a key part of the movie. Billy doesn't want to turn back, that's central to the story. And a lot of the movie hinges upon that and Billy's relationship with his best friend and that disparity. They are two teen friends and then suddenly one of them is 30 and a hero. So it creates tension. You know, as a screenwriter, that's the thing, to take what seems to be a problem and make it a key element of the story. But Michael hit it on the head, that's one of the emotional cores of this story. So to me it's a great problem to have."
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
