‘Shazam’ Director Blames “Crazy” Fans For Avoiding IP-Based Projects Now

Fans of a project can be incredibly passionate. Sometimes, that passion is not a good thing and for director David F. Sandberg, the toxicity of some fans almost had him writing off IP movies for the rest of his career. The director, whose new film Until Dawn is an adaptation of the popular video game of the same name, also directed another IP-driven franchise in the past. He brought both Shazam! and Shazam! Fury of the Gods to the big screen and Sandberg shared with GamesRadar that he almost didn’t make it because he received death threats because of his work.

IP stands for “intellectual property” and means something based on a pre-existing bit of media. It’s your Marvel films or franchises. Which includes things like Sandberg’s Shazam! work. When the first film starring Zachary Levi was released, it was met with praise from fans of the DC comics character. The sequel, which was released 2023, was not met with the same reception. According to Sangberg, fans got “very angry” with him over the film.

Sangberg said that, because of death threats that he got, that he did not want to do another IP-driven film or project. “I never wanna do another IP-based movie because it’s just not worth it,” Sandberg told the publication. “Fans can get very, very crazy and very angry with you. You can get, like, death threats and everything,” he said. That changed with Until Dawn.

Until Dawn‘s Script Got David F. Sandberg Back in the IP-Driven Space

Sangberg went on to talk about how the script for Until Dawn was great because it “wasn’t trying to recreate the game.” The 2015 horror game was created by Will Byles and Nik Bowen and put players in a horror Groundhog Day situation where they continue to relive each day with a different horrifying thing chasing after them. Sandberg told GamesRadar that what he loved about the script was that it was original and noted that if they tried to recreate the game perfectly, it wouldn’t work. He acknowledged how fans would react and said that they “would’ve gotten a lot of critique if we had tried to [recreate the game], because people would’ve been like, ‘It’s not as good. It’s not the same actors.'”

Sanbderg’s comments on fans is not a new commentary. Other creatives have spoken out against fans and how they’ve react to film adaptations of their beloved IP but at least Until Dawn brought Sandberg back. You can see his new film in theaters now.

Until Dawn

Release Date

April 25, 2025

Runtime

103 Minutes

Director

David F. Sandberg

Writers

Gary Dauberman, Blair Butler

Producers

Carter Swan, Roy Lee, Gary Dauberman, Charles Miller, Lotta Losten, Asad Qizilbash

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(via GamesRadar)