After a $67 million opening weekend, the biggest for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a leading role, the DC Films superhero movie continued its box office dominance. Although it is running alongside the formidable Ticket to Paradise starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney, Black Adam continues to lead in the theatrical returns.
According to Variety, the Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema produced Black Adam passed the $250 million mark after 10 days. Dwayne Johnson himself took to his social media to thank the fans who have already watched the movie.
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 31, 2022 But is it enough to call the newest DC Comics inspired film a success? While the low critical scores on review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes have been drowned out by the overwhelmingly positive audience reactions, Black Adam has a bit more to go before it can break even financially. With its $195 million production budget and estimated $100 million marketing, the movie has to make $450 to $500 million to roughly break even. The good news for Dwayne Johnson and the production is that the international markets have shown a stronger showing than that domestic box office. The domestic box office for the second weekend added over $27 million, but international markets added $39 million from 76 offshore markets. Deadline reports that it is tracking 42% higher than Shazam! (2019). In fact, it is showing stronger overseas legs than Matt Reeves’s The Batman, which saw a 50% decline overseas in its second week. Black Adam retained its No.1 status in 60 overseas markets including the UK, France, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Taiwan, The Philippines, and Mexico. It is still set to debut in China and Japan. What may be Black Adam’s biggest potential hurdle in its continued box office dominance is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The final theatrical film for the Marvel Studios Phase 4 is aiming for a $175 million opening weekend. And with the early reactions from its premiere, that might not be a hard goal to reach. Black Adam’s final box office total may be in question, but it has accomplished revitalizing the box office itself after months of stagnation. More than that, the future of the DC Extended Universe is looking more promising. Thanks to the fan-favorite response to the Justice Society and the return of Henry Cavill as Superman in the mid-credits scene, Black Adam is being viewed as a fresh start after the old Warner Bros. management led a period of mixed financial and audience success. With James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over the re-christened DC Studios and DC Universe starting on November 1st, Black Adam may have fulfilled Dwayne Johnson’s promise of heralding the change of the hierarchy of power. Black Adam stars Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Quintessa Swindell, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Mohammed Amer, and Bodhi Sabongui. The superhero film is currently running in most theaters, with a Japan release on December 2, 2022.
