Shazam 2, the director denies the rumors about the additional shooting

Shazam 2

We will have to wait until next year to see the sequel to Shazam, titled Fury of the Gods, on the big screen, but director David F. Sandberg wanted to clarify the alleged rumors of additional footage, circulated in recent days. Many thought that yet another slippage of the film was due precisely to this situation, but it did not. Here's the director's answer.

trailer Shazam 2

There will be no additional footage for the Shazam sequel

The sequel to Shazam! will now be released on March 17, 2023 instead of December 21 this year, most likely to avoid a box-office competition with Avatar: The Water Path, a follow-up to James Cameron's 2009 film. In addition to the return of the entire Shazam Family (as seen in the official trailer), the sequel will debut Rachel Zegler, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, who play the role of the three daughters of Atlas and villain of the Warner Bros / DC film. Shazam: Fury of the Gods, set a few years after the events of the first film, is the 12th film of the DCEU.

Released in 2019, the first film, Shazam! (on Amazon you can find the 4k version), follows the story of 14-year-old Billy Batson, who receives the gift of the ability to transform himself into the famous DC hero. With the help of his adoptive brother Freddy and the rest of the family, he manages to wield his powers and defeat the evil Doctor Sivana, played by Mark Strong.

Shazam 2 director shuts down rumours of reshoots following release date delay

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is not in reshoots, despite the rumours.

The sequel's release date switch from December 16 to March 27 seems to have got tongues wagging, but director David F Sandberg's recent Instagram Stories Q&A saw him set the record straight.

Asked if there's really reshoots being done on the movie, he wrote back: 'No. I've seen reports that Shazam is being 'retooled' but it's not true.

Related: Shazam's Zachary Levi responds to Superman cameo rumours

'The cut has been locked for quite some time and we're doing final mix, colour and VFX right now,' he explained.

'Everyone is happy with the film and we're not going to work longer on it just because of the release date shift. They figured Aquaman [and the Lost Kingdom's] previous date was better for us and that's the reason we moved.

'Definitely not shooting more.'

Related: Black Adam movie won't feature Superman or Shazam crossover

Rachel Zegler, who plays Anthea, shared her reaction to the delay news over on Twitter last month, telling her followers: 'Thanks for all the love, mi familia — 'shazam!: fury of the gods' now hits theaters march 17, 2023. hope to see you there.

'Mostly sad because i had my shazam photo dump ready :('.

Meanwhile, in some glorious news straight out of the Worlds of DC, Brendan Gleeson is officially starring in Joker: Folie à Deux opposite Joaquin Phoenix's cackling clown Arthur Fleck, Lady Gaga's version of Harley Quinn and Zazie Beetz's Sophie Dumond.

This musically-minded return to Gotham City will be released in just over two years' time, on October 4, 2024.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will now have a release date of March 17, 2023. The first Shazam movie is available to stream on Prime Video UK.