'Shazam!' news: Production officially begins for upcoming DC movie

"Shazam!" is now blitzing its way into an April 2019 release, as the upcoming DC movie has been revealed to now be in its official production or filming stage now that the cast is complete.

Director David Sandberg has announced via social media that the film has now entered is official filming phase, which takes place in Vancouver, Canada. Sandberg has posted on Instagram a photo of his hand holding the clapperboard which is used for proclaiming a cut or a take during filming. The said clapperboard also shows some of the details of the movie, such as the aspect ratio, and what rolls Sandberg and team were currently filming, which in this case seems to be a B-roll for "Shazam!"

"Shazam!" is also apparently called by its working title "Franklin," as is indicated on the digital clapperboard Sandberg was holding. Regardless, it seems that "Shazam!'s" production is slightly ahead of schedule since the initial projection was for filming to start early in February; instead, it began late January.

Right now though, it seems that Sandberg and crew are filming the easy sequences for the movie, as is indicated by the "Scene 308" and "B1" on the clapperboard. This means that it could be a while before fans see Zachary Levi on set or dropping hints on social media about the job he got as Shazam, though it may not be too far off.

Apart from the clapperboard, Sandberg also tweeted a photo of some of the cameras they are using for the film, which are the Blackmagic Micro Studio cameras that can be used to capture performances in 3D space. Sandberg is noticeably excited at the filming possibilities they can do in order to bring "Shazam!" to life.

This also marks the first time "Shazam!" is being adapted into the live-action medium, as previous adaptations have been cartoons and animations, so this is quite a leap for the character and for DC, as well as Sandberg. "Shazam!" is set to be released on April 5, 2019.