The following contains spoilers for Shazam!
DC has found another big comic book hit thanks to the success of DC's Shazam! The movie has been at the top of the box office for the last two weekends and has been largely celebrated by critics and fans alike. We know that a sequel is already in very early stages, but there may be far more than one new movie on the way.
Michelle Borth is the woman who plays Mary Marvel, the adult version of Grace Fulton's Mary Bromfield in Shazam! In a new interview, the actress reveals that she got the part thanks to a single audition when she didn't even know what she was auditioning for, but the biggest piece of information, is that she's now signed to a five-picture deal. According to Borth...
It was tears of joy, but it was just so overwhelming. I had never gotten a role from one taped audition, let alone a five-picture deal with Warner Bros. from a one-tape audition. You always have to go through a really long process. There’s a fight to get there, so it was a really incredible moment. That’s all I can say.
If Michelle Borth was signed to a five-picture deal with Warner Bros. it's safe to assume that the same is true for the rest of the Shazam! family. Both the adult and child versions of all the characters are likely signed to the same deal. Star Zachary Levi and his kid version, played by Asher Angel, might even be signed to longer deals than that as they may have more crossover opportunities.
The fact that everybody is on board for five movies doesn't necessarily mean that there's a specific plan for those five films. While it's possible that the DC film universe, of which Shazam! is a part, has been mapped out and there are five specific movies that DC and WB know they want Mary Marvel to appear in, it's more likely that the studio just wants to be sure the actors are under contract if and when they're needed.
It's also possible, though less likely, that the five picture deal isn't specific to playing Mary Marvel. It's possible Warner Bros. just sees potential in Michelle Borth and wanted her under contract.
Regardless, it is remarkable that Borth has found such success from a single audition. It's even more impressive when you learn from her Parade interview that, in order to keep the secret of what she was auditioning for, the actual audition wasn't running lines, but doing a dance. According to the actress...
It was one of those really magical moments of, ‘Oh, my God. You hear about this sometimes. Every now and then, this happens,’ and that was mine. I did a great dance, an interpretive dance, and had a lot of fun with it, and then forgot, and that was it.
Whatever else actually happens, a direct sequel to Shazam! is a virtual guarantee at this point. We only actually got to see a small amount of Mary Marvel and the other members of the Shazam Family, so a sequel will likely let these characters gain a bit more depth and let actors like Michelle Borth stretch their wings a bit more.
