The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.
Every installment asks the same five questions. Today’s subject is filmmaker David F. Sandberg, who today opens Shazam! Fury of the Gods, his second installment in the DC Warner Bros franchise. Hailing from Sweden, Sandberg breakout came from an unlikely place. He and his actress wife Lotta Losten filmed a no money horror short called Lights Out, a brief exploration into paranoia and terror, and then expanded a feature film version in 2016. From there, Sandberg escalated through the genre ranks, helming the hit Annabelle: Creation, the spinoff in The Conjuring universe,
After that, he was offered the chance to originate the Shazam! franchise, and took it. Sandberg, who here discusses the films that set him off in the direction of pursuing both scares and tent pole action, is a most interesting success story. He discusses here how one of the obstacles he overcame is his autism, which created a challenge in a most collaborative medium when his natural instinct is to be insular. He’s made the most of his talents and is just getting warmed up, as you will see here.