Shazam Director Returns for Until Dawn After IP Movie Backlash

You might not have expected to see David F. Sandberg, the director behind Shazam! and Shazam: Fury of the Gods, take the helm of another IP-based film or franchise, and neither did he. Yet, as his new film Until Dawn approaches its theatrical release, Sandberg is reflecting on the intense backlash from his previous DC Cinematic Universe projects and what drew him back to the world of IP.

"What I loved about the script [is] that it wasn't trying to recreate the game," Sandberg shared with GamesRadar+ about the beloved horror game turned film. "Trying to condense 10 hours into two, or something like that. But it is scary still, even though we're doing a new thing.” He also acknowledged that even when adapting a game property, IP fans have strong opinions about how their favorite stories should be brought to the screen.

"I mean, to be honest, fans can get very, very crazy and very angry with you. You can get, like, death threats and everything so after Shazam 2, I was like, 'I never wanna do another IP-based movie because it's just not worth it,'" the filmmaker reflected on his DCU experience and its aftermath.

Despite this, Sandberg found the potential of the story in Until Dawn compelling. "But then I was sent this script, and I was like, 'Ah, this would be so much fun to do, to do all these kinds of horrors? I kind of have to do it, and hope that the people see what we're trying to do and like it,'" he said. “I really thought it was brilliant of the writers to come up with this time loop idea where the night starts over because then you do kind of get that feel of the game, when you're replaying it and making different choices. I think it's very much in the spirit of the game."

Sandberg understands that pleasing every fan when adapting an IP is nearly impossible, but his approach aims to capture the essence of Until Dawn. "I think we would've gotten a lot of critique if we had tried to [recreate the game], because people would've been like, 'It's not as good. It's not the same actors, because, you know, they're older now,'" the Shazam director explained. "You wouldn't be able to better the game, so you'd just be in a losing situation."

Until Dawn was penned by Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman, the latter known for writing It: Chapter Two, and stars Ella Rubin. The film is set to hit theaters on April 25, 2025.