Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia has offered a reason as to why the long-awaited DC Extended Universe film, which stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the eponymous character, has been delayed to October.
"I think we're just in a world right now where there was a huge and understandable freeze-up when the [COVID-19] pandemic hit and a lot of productions were put on hold," Garcia explained while speaking to TheWrap. "Now that the industry has really roared back, the pipeline for VFX is so jammed. Obviously all these superhero movies just require so much VFX, and we're just in a situation where the majority of the VFX houses are just completely swamped with work."
Garcia concluded by saying that the VFX houses are "busting their ass" and that the Black Adam production team was grateful for their work, noting, "It feels like things are starting to calibrate and I think you'll start to feel less shifts down the line."
Earlier this year, it was reported that Black Adam had been given a new release date of Oct. 21, while another Dwayne Johnson-centric DC film, the animated DC League of Super-Pets -- which sees Johnson voice Krypto the Superdog -- was given Black Adam's previous date of July 29. However, prior to Garcia's interview, a report had stated that one reason the movie was delayed was because of filming for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.
Garcia had also discussed Black Adam's quality, remarking, "A lot of times when you see that early cut, it sets a table where you realize, 'Okay, now we understand how much work we got to do.' Granted, the movie's in a stage where there are no effects done. It's so fresh after filming. But anytime the movie is that entertaining and good in that raw of a form, it makes us very confident. So really excited with where the movie is. [Director Jaume Collet-Serra] has done such a good job."
Additionally, Garcia brought up plans to do spinoffs from Black Adam, stating that the production team "[introduces] a lot of new characters in here, and a lot of these characters are big fan favorites, so [they're] currently working on spinoffs that [they] can do for some of those characters." Among the characters Black Adam will introduce are the members of the Justice Society of America, with the team set to get its own solo film if its appearance in the movie garners positive reception. As for the titular fan-favorite antihero himself, Black Adam is planned to have a multiple-film arc.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam opens in theaters on Oct. 21.
Source: TheWrap