A Shazam/ Captain Marvel movie has been in talks for a long time now. There's been at least a couple different drafts that have started but the project always got shut down. Now with writer Bill Birch along with Geoff Johns on board, perhaps the day we get to see Billy Batson yell "Shazam!" will soon be upon us.
In an interview with Cinefools, Bill Birch gives a little update on the movie. He mentions that he and Geoff are in the midst of "creating a kickass update that still honors the lore that's been created in over 50 years of [Captain] Marvel storylines." Despite the previous starts on the movie, the decision was made to simply start over rather than pull elements from previous scripts. Birch and Johns are not planning on taking the 'dark' route that many adaptions lean towards. Birch does believe that they will still end up with a PG-13 rating. The biggest factor they are facing is balancing the comedy and danger in the story.
What about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? He's long been associated as a favorite for either Captain Marvel or Black Adam. Birch says that the way he sees things, an actor is not committed until the first day of shoot is over. Despite Johnson's relationship with Peter Segal (who has long been working on the movie), Birch does not write to any particular actor when coming up with a script. Rewrites can occur after to lean towards an actor's strengths if necessary.
By the sound of it, with Birch and Johns working on this, Captain Marvel may be in safe hands. Let's hope that this movie actually happens this time.