Is Dwayne Johnson’s “Black Adam” A Hit Or A Flop? Everything You Need To Know

The eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe, Black Adam, was one of the most anticipated movies of 2022. Being a spin-off to the 2019 DC movie Shazam!, Black Adam also marked the official entry of Dwayne “‘The Rock’ Johnson into the superhero world.

While most of the superhero movies from the franchise perform well at the box office, thanks to millions of fans all over the world, it is quite surprising to note that such a highly anticipated movie like Black Adam did not perform well at the box office.

Black Adam – The Movie

Black Adam is a 2022 American superhero movie from the movie house/comic world of DC. Black Adam is the eleventh movie in the DC Extended Universe, which has a lot of superhero movies.

The movie had its first premiere on October 3, 2022, in Mexico City, and was released in the United States on October 21, 2022.

The film had a fantastic cast and crew, with Dwayne Johnson playing the titular character, Black Adam.

The cast included names like Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, and many more. The movie was directed by Jaume Collet – Serra and written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani.

Black Adam – Budget and Collection Report

Production company New Line Cinemas started plans to produce the movie Shazam early in the 2000s. Dwayne Johnson was approached first for the role of Captain Marvel, but Rock expressed interest in the antagonistic character Black Adam.

Dwayne received positive feedback from his fans for the reveal that he was taking up the role of Black Adam, which ultimately led to him playing the role.

The movie Black Adam was produced by four people, of which Dwayne Johnson was also a member. The remaining three producers include names like Beau Flynn, who is known to have produced multiple movies starring Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia. According to the reports available, the overall budget of the movie is estimated to be around $195 – 200 million.

The movie Black Adam had its world premiere in Mexico City on October 3, 2022. The movie also had multiple screenings in some of the biggest cities, like New York, Toronto, London, Los Angeles, Miami, and a few more. Upon the release of the movie, it ranked first on platforms like iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu.

According to the numbers from the latest update, Black Adam grossed around $384 million worldwide, as of December 5, 2022. Looking into the collection obtained by the movie, it can be seen that it has grossed around $165.2 million from the United States and Canada and the remaining 219.5 million from the rest of the countries around the world.

Even though this number might seem good for a film, when comparing it with some of the other movies from the same production house, it is quite convincing to note that the movie did not perform according to expectation.

The movie made a good mark in terms of collection on the first day. The total amount was calculated to be around $26.7 million on the first day, which also included the collection from Thursday night previews.

The first-day collection surpassed that of 2019’s Shazam, the movie on which Black Adam was based. Shazam grossed around $20.4 million on its first day.

The collection report for the movie for the first weekend also seemed promising, as it grossed around $67 million. The collection was a record for any of the Johnson movies.

It is rumored that Dwayne Johnson received a total payment of $22.5 million as a salary for the movie. As per LifeStyleUG’s recent list of the richest actors in the world, he holds the 3rd position.

The movie also faced competition from other movies during its release. The movie was released alongside “Ticket to Paradise,” a movie starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney.

Even though the competition was not a serious issue, the release of the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever posed a great threat to Black Adam and surpassed the movie in terms of collections within weeks.

Black Adam – Critical Response

While most of the popular movie reviewing sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Deseret News mentioned that the movie received mixed reviews, other sites such as Yahoo! Variety, and others stated that the reviews were negative.

While most of the popular public reviews seem to agree on the point that the movie is of great importance for the future of the DCEU and has the potential to take the upcoming movies to an exciting future, the movie as a stand-alone experience was a total letdown.

According to some critics, the film’s main plot was not as strong as it needed to support the character of Black Adam. The role of Dwayne Johnson was appreciated by people, and he was appreciated for his performance. People also agreed that the cast of the movie really complemented each other and that their performances were good.

Another point that led to the letdown of the movie was the lack of proper timing in the delivery of the visual effects. Some reviews say that the visual spectacles kept coming at the audience, and as each minute was filled with something epic, it gradually led to the loss of the “wow”’ factor that people look for in movies. As the effect became more common, people began to take it for granted, missing the entire point of such shots.

Black Adam – Future

Even after the movie did not perform well at the box office, it was confirmed by the producers that a sequel to the movie is under planning and that it will soon start production. New comments from actors like Henry Cavill also make it more likely that Black Adam will show up with other superheroes.

A report from LifestyleUG said that Warner Bros. and Discovery didn’t want Henry Cavill to play Superman again at first. However, not long after the film’s release, Henry Cavill announced on Instagram that he would resume his role as Superman, which caught everyone off guard.

Even though the movie is seen as a flop from many angles, it has also taken the status of Dwayne Johnson to new heights.