John August on the 'BIG' Comic Potential of Shazam
The Big Fish scribe makes another 'Big' comparison while discussing his finished first draft of the 'Big' Screen Shazam.
Shazam is "very different" from all "the other flying people in tights movies," declared screenwriter John August as he prepared to submit his completed draft. "If Captain Marvel didn’t pre-exist and there was just an idea of a 13-year-old boy who can speak a magic word and turn into a superhero — that would sell cause it’s a really good idea."
And it's an idea with "really good comic potential," he asserted, stating that his origin-story script owes as much to Big as to Superman. Then he laughed. "Yeah, I avoid saying that because that incenses certain people."
But the writer of Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is circumspect about his responsibilities to fandom. "I knew what I was getting into. In a sense, even with a character that doesn’t have the giant spotlight on him like Superman or Batman, there’s a tremendously loyal fanbase who have very clear expectations about what they think a Captain Marvel movie should be. What people tend to really forget is that I’m just pushing words around on paper and doing the best job I can."
(MTV post by Shawn Adler.)