Wait, Is 'Shazam!' A Christmas Movie?

The DC superhero comedy, about an orphaned teenager who inherits the powers of a wizard realm and can blast into a , stages a lot the action in a Philadelphia redolent with Santa Claus, jammed toy stores and malls, homemade decorations, and a climate-questionable outdoor Christmas carnival. Its as if Jingle All The Way got bit by the dog monster from Ghostbusters and had a child with Superman. (Which is also to say: Great movie. Bring the kids!).

But the Christmas emphasis in a pre-summer blockbuster out in April may have some audience members wondering if Shazam! had been originally intended to land around the holidays. Not really! As the movies director , Shazam!'s themes lent themselves to a Christmastime setting. It feels like a Christmas movie to me. It's about family, and finding your family, you have these orphans or foster kids... and Christmas is very much a family holiday, so it sort of ties it all together in that way, hed told the site last year. And Warner Brothers already had a good-time superhero flick lined up in

Shazam!s not the first big-budget flick to push a Christmas vibe during a warm weather release. Die Hard--considered a classic Christmas movie amongst fans of the action classic--came out in July. But you can count on it airing every December in perpetuity. With its family-forward themes and gee-whiz humor, Shazam! can likely expect to do the same.