Shazam! star Zachary Levi will play football legend Kurt Warner in a new biopic based on the NFL star. Levi is best known for his ability to flex his comedic muscles on screen, whether it’s in his breakout television role in Chuck, or his starring role in the DCEU’s much more light-hearted affair, Shazam!. Levi will be stepping back into the superhero role for Shazam 2, although the film will now be released in November 2022 instead of its original release date of April 1, 2022. However, Levi will soon be benching his superhero boots for a period of time and be taking to the football field.
THR reported that Levi will play NFL legend Kurt Warner in the film American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, which will be released by Lionsgate, and “is set to start production later this year.” Jon and Andrew Erwin will direct the film and interviews with Warner and his book, All Things Possible: My Story of Faith, Football and the First Miracle Season helped put the screenplay together. The report also includes Levi’s statement, where the actor states: “I identified with the quiet strength he found to persevere – that’s something I think anybody can recognize in their own lives.”
The role is certainly not one people would probably associate with Levi, and it will be interesting to see how Levi adapts to playing Warner in his incredible journey from not being drafted to the NFL after college, working in a supermarket to becoming a Super Bowl champion. The film certainly fits the mold of the Erwin brother’s previous outing I Still Believe, which was another biopic on a Christian man's inspiring journey. Interestingly, the report mentions the film will start production later this year. Previously, Shazam 2 was supposed to begin production in July, but that’s likely been delayed. So it looks like American Underdog will possibly race ahead of Shazam 2 to be Levi’s first production back since the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: THR