Despite Rock’s Record Opening, Black Adam may lose WB $100 million.
Despite the star power supporting it, Warner Bros. is anticipated to lose close to $100 million on Black Adam. The DC Universe film starred Dwayne Johnson as the title antagonist, who explored his origins as a former slave in the fictional nation of Kahndaq who was given superhuman abilities by the wizard Shazam, only to be locked up after using his abilities for murderous purposes. Black Adam, which chronicles his conflict with the Justice Society of America in the present, received generally negative reviews from critics. While viewers have enjoyed the DCU movie, it doesn’t seem to have helped the organization in the long run.
Nearly two months after the film first hit theaters, Variety has debuted a new report analyzing Black Adam’s box office performance. Despite setting a new opening weekend record for Dwayne Johnson, the DCU film is expected to lose WB up to $100 million, with sources indicating the studio spent somewhere between $80-100 million on marketing which, when paired with its estimated $200 million production budget, necessitated the film to bring in at least $600 million worldwide to break even. At the time of writing, Black Adam has come to the end of its theatrical run with just over $384 million grossed.
Why Black Adam Is Losing Money
Black Adam floating triumphantly
It might surprise you to learn that Black Adam is anticipated to lose so much money at the box office given the international appeal Johnson often brings to his films. The movie’s reviews, which presently have a 39 percent acceptance rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, are one of the main factors that seem to be holding it back. This makes it the DC Universe picture with the lowest reviews since the 2017 theatrical release of Justice League. Relying solely on the appeal of Johnson in the title role and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate didn’t help matters any more because Black Adam is also a lesser-known comic book name for people who are unfamiliar with DC.
The competition and timing of Black Adam’s release—just over a week before Halloween, an odd choice for a superhero movie, and just over a week after Halloween Ends, a more in-season release—were two bigger obstacles it had to overcome in the box office. Even after escaping the season of scares, the DC Universe movie still had to compete with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which had a lot of support due to its early critical acclaim and the fact that its plot served as a memorial to the late Chadwick Boseman.The MCU title did unseat Black Adam from the top box office spot in the latter’s fourth weekend, though Johnson has been very open about his love for both films, denying any rivalry existing between the two.
Will Black Adam’s Losses Affect His DCU Future?
Black Adam with lightning jumping off his body.
Given how poorly the movie did at the box office, many people will undoubtedly start to question how Black Adam’s financial woes will impact the character’s future in the DC Universe. A $100 million loss could pose a problem for Johnson’s return, despite the fact that Johnson and his producing partner Hiram Garcia have frequently stated plans for the continuation of his character in the franchise, specifically for Black Adam to square off against Henry Cavill’s Superman. David Zaslav, the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is closely monitoring studio finances. But given that the franchise’s 10-year plan is being developed by the new DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, and given how enthusiastically audiences have received the movie, it seems unlikely that Black Adam’s future is entirely sealed off.