After years of talking about it, Billy Batson is finally going to be making his way to the big screen. Shazam is the next movie within the DC Extended Universe that is going to start filming, which is expected to start early next year. However, director David F. Sandberg has a lot of work ahead of him in order to get things ready to go and he has just confirmed that pre-production on Shazam is officially underway.

David F. Sandberg, the man behind Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, took to Instagram to declare that pre-production has started on Shazam. Well, in his own way. The director posted a photo from Warner Bros. Studios of what is likely the office he will be working out of during pre-production. The photo didn't feature any DC related stuff in it, but it did feature a can of Coca-Cola and an otherwise empty cabinet. Though, his simple caption let us know that this means his work on Shazam! has started.

"Day 1"

Since David F. Sandberg announced that Shazam was going to be his next project after Annabelle: Creation, and since the photo is from the Warner Bros. lot, it isn't hard to figure out that this photo signifies work on this movie is finally underway. We've been hearing about a Shazam movie for years, even before the DCEU was really a thing, so the fact that this project is finally getting underway is a big deal. Sadly, Dwayne Johnson isn't going to appear in the movie as Black Adam, a role that he has been attached to for several years. However, he is still attached to appear in the DCEU at some point and the Black Adam solo movie hasn't been totally taken off the table yet. We may still get to see him go to blows with Shazam and/or Superman.

As far as the Shazam movie goes, a lot needs to happen before cameras can roll. No actors have officially been cast and that is going to be important. The movie will use two actors to play the lead; one to play the child version of Billy Batson and a much bigger, adult actor to play Shazam. In case you aren't familiar with the source material, Shazam is the superhero alter ego of a boy named Billy Batson, who, just by speaking the magic word "Shazam", which is an acronym of 6 Greek elders; Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, can transform himself into a superhero with amazing strength, speed, flight, and other such powers.

David F. Sandberg is known for his work in horror, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to tackle something totally different. Not only that, but Warner Bros. has a reason to love the guy. Both of his movies have been huge critical and financial successes for the studio. So if he can bring some of that magic to Shazam, which is set for release on April 5, 2019, the movie will be in good shape. You can check out his Instagram post for yourself below.