A recent report that claimed Zachary Levi’s Shazam! superhero suit cost a whopping $1 million to make has created a lot of buzz among fans. In fact, some of them even took to social media to confirm the same with Shazam! director David F. Sandberg.
When a Redditor asked Sandberg if the Shazam! suit really cost $1 million to make, he replied that although he does not know the exact cost of the suit, making multiple copies and versions of the costume did involve a lot of time, effort, and failed attempts.
“I never saw a price tag so I don’t know the exact number. Wouldn’t surprise me though,” Sandberg posted on Reddit. “The thing is that it’s not the price for one suit. In developing a suit like this you basically have to build it several times over to get things right.”
The Shazam! director revealed that the costume designers initially made a lot of versions of the suit with different fabric, different bolt designs, and different shades and patterns before finalizing on one.
“Like there were many different bolts made,” Sandberg noted. “Ones with different bolt shapes, ones with different ways of lighting up, etc. There were different versions of the fabric made in different shades, different patterns, and so on and different version had to be camera tested.”
He went on to explain that even after one of the designs was finalized, multiple suits were made for different sequences in the film.
“Once you nail down the design, the material and all other details you then have to make multiples and ones for stunts etc.,” Sandberg continued.
The Shazam! director also mentioned that the suit went through a lot of upgrades owing to fans’ initial reactions.
“Even during shooting you have to do upgrades,” Sandberg revealed. “Like some of you have seen in early pics the boots were originally very different but those were falling apart and had to be redesigned. The internal wiring to light up the bolt and gauntlets turned out to be too thin and would break so that had to be updated with a new system and so on. The early gauntlets restricted Zac’s hand movement too much. So it’s not like it’s one million dollars in material, or that making one of these would cost that much. It’s the whole process and making multiple copies and versions.”
The next in line DC film Shazam! follows the story of a 14-year-old kid who magically transforms into an adult superhero.
The film is set to debut in theaters on April 5, 2019.
In regards to questions about what Shazam’s suit cost, short answer is I don’t actually know the final number. Longer answer that explains why these things are expensive, see my comment on reddit: pic.twitter.com/QfQIYkxKTa
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) January 17, 2019
