It takes more than a writer's strike to kill a project like the proposed Shazam! movie. Director Peter Segal told SCI FI Wire that the film has been delayed due to the WGA strike, but that it is still being actively developed.

"I think it'll still happen," Segal said "Though timing is going to be a key issue now, because, whereas before, normally we'd be working on a script while we're in post-production [on Get Smart], so that hopefully when we're done with post-production, we're ready to go into preproduction [on the next project]. But now we're sort of out of sync, so, unfortunately, I'll have to spend more time with my family."

Segal said that while he is eager to get started on Shazam, he didn't want to rush on the film.

"You don't really want to rush something like Shazam," Segal said. "I mean, it's going to be a huge movie. I mean, huge in scope and in price. And so you want to make sure you have a solid script and really pay attention to the casting and all the preproduction that goes into that. So, you know, I think when it's right, it'll be made."

Dwayne The Rock Johnson is still said to be interested in the role of Black Adam for the film, but otherwise details about the film remain sparse. Segal did confirm that the new tentative title for the film is Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.

In the comics, Shazam! tells the story of Billy Batson, an orphaned youth who works as a newsboy and was chosen to be a champion of good by the wizard Shazam. When Billy speaks the wizard's name, he is struck by a bolt of mystic lightning that transforms him into an adult superhero known as Captain Marvel. As Marvel, Billy possesses the powers of six mythical figures. Billy is not the only one who has been given this power - in ancient Egypt, a man known as Teth-Adam was given this power by the wizard, becoming Black Adam. Black Adam eventually was corrupted by his power, and the wizard banished him, with Black Adam returning to Earth in the modern era, to do battle with Captain Marvel.