It’s not looking good for Black Adam in its ongoing seventh-week run at the global box office. The Dwayne Johnson starrer DC film rode high on the hype train during its premiere week due to the Henry Cavill’s Superman tease. But sadly, moviegoers’ interest unexpectedly died down after the movie’s thunderous opening weekend. If reports are to be believed, the Warner Bros. film could face a $50-100 million loss and DCU fans have a lot to say regarding its theatrical run.
Since releasing in early October, the worldwide box office earnings for Black Adam currently stand at $387 million. An earning that was easily surpassed by Black Panther 2 raking over $ 400 million in less than a week. But the current discussion does not involve the DC vs. Marvel rivalry debate, in fact, some would argue the MCU is way ahead of DCU, and to some extent, even WBD’s David Zaslav is in agreement with that statement. The ongoing dissent among DCEU folks is if Black Adam did go the extra mile to make an impact on the larger DC Universe.
There’s no question that The Rock played a pivotal role in promoting Black Adam and while it’s expected of the titular star to do his part in marketing the movie – Johnson’s production company, Seven Bucks Production was directly involved in strategizing Black Adam’s promotional push. Turns out, the marketing team would have spent a whopping $100 million to change the “hierarchy of power” if Variety‘s sources are correct. But the outlet’s insiders from WB countered, stating the advertising budget was $80 million. the scaled-back budget was due to covid-19’s impact on the box office.
Warner Bros. sources argue Black Adam will break even with $400 million in earning
Black Adam required a $195 million production budget due to its VFX-heavy action sequences. Considering all the expenses, DC Film needs to earn around $600 million in the global market, just to break even and inch closer to the profit margin. However, Box office tracker Luiz Fernando noted, Black Adam is eying a $395 million run. Here’s what the internet has to say about Black Adam’s box office estimates.
Overseas, #BlackAdam grossed 2.7M on 7th weekend, going up +3.8% from last weekend thanks to #Japan’s 1.4M debut, for a 219M intl cume over 76 markets.
Allied to 165.2M in the US,#TheRock hits a 384M Global cume at #BoxOffice, beating #BlackWidow’s 379.8M
Eyeing a 395M Global run pic.twitter.com/mugwOPoCIP— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) December 4, 2022
They spent 600 Million on Black Adam and hoped it would surpass that at the box office, while also shelving Batgirl and taking a 90 Million dollar loss outright.
… Feels like almost nothing in the Zaslav era has been a good idea. And that's not even bringing up "Max". https://t.co/49qANgInFL pic.twitter.com/h3Rf5GG1Px
— TRAFON(s Backup Account) (@RiseFallNickBck) December 6, 2022
Black Adam has grossed nearly $400m at the global box office. Apparently, it's going to make a loss. Crikey. https://t.co/FunqL7fZE2 pic.twitter.com/sz1doyajhJ
— Film Stories (@filmstoriespod) December 6, 2022
The only thing worse than #BlackAdam not being a box-office hit are the people in DCEU Twitter laughing and gloating about this just because the Snyderverse hasn't been restored, and because they're still convinced that The Rock was trying to take over the DCEU for himself. https://t.co/7JiPo17VUL pic.twitter.com/ThZgj10KW7
— hellresidentNY (@hellresidentNY) December 6, 2022
Consider it money well-spent as it's practically a 'start' for a newer and better DCU.
It shouldn't be expected to out-MCU Marvel with all the previous failures and lack of consistency. People are still hurting over the recent BS including a nearly finished Batgirl being dumped.— Paul Achilles DAigle (@Pachilles7) December 6, 2022
it’s making bank on digital right now & also has streaming to go… it will level out. https://t.co/drWhh2zaGa
— dcu & that. (@dcuandthat) December 6, 2022
— 𝕀𝕄𝔸𝕏 (@Syncopy_) December 6, 2022
WB to The Rock pic.twitter.com/GkEDMarcQI
— Ã (@lfcarif_) December 6, 2022
So much for a "passion project"!!! It's no surprise that the movie's a flop. Nobody wants to see a huge ego-centered celebrity do a movie that's only centered on one character!!! Typical Rock movie!!!
— Charlie GM (he/him/hi/ho/you/who/me) (@CharlieGM110) December 6, 2022
Great movie! It’s unfortunate that half the DC FanDome boycotted the movie just because Zack Snyder didn’t do it…. smh.
Also not getting a China release really hurt their #’s.
— sir_manolo 🏁 (@Christian_J_D_M) December 6, 2022
Damn, that’s actually sad. The film wasn’t even bad.
— Dami (@KingDami5299) December 6, 2022
To be fair, It wasn't advertised that well. I didn't knew this movie was a thing into we got to the counter to pick movies.
It was blast to watch tho, that's all I can give.
— LukeGalaxy ✰ (@LukeGalaxy_) December 6, 2022
With all the flaws Black Adam was a pop corn entertainer which I thoroughly enjoyed. I wish people gave it a chance they wouldn’t have been dissapointed.
— Dhruv Mohan (@dhruvmohan97) December 6, 2022
It should be noted that Variety’s WB sources argued that Black Adam would still break even with its $400M run. Moreover, the changes in revenue from home entertainment have worked in Black Adam’s favor, in fact, it has apparently “over-performed projections”. Earlier this month, The Rock also doubled down on the movie’s early success on VOD platforms like Apple, holding the number one spot on all charts.
Considering Black Adam’s hurdles with the rotten tomatoes score and the struggle to promote obscure characters like the Justice Society, the DCU title certainly falls in the list of successful DC films from the pandemic era. But it’s unlikely to find the same love from audiences if the sequel follows the same direction as the original.
