On its opening weekend, Warner Bros. and DC Film's Black Adam soared to the top of the domestic box office.
As reported by Variety, Black Adam earned $67 million USD in its domestic debut, surpassing projections that the film would reach $62 million after it opened across 4,350 North American theaters. While these earnings are in line with previous DC Extended Universe films (2018's Aquaman earned a domestic cume of $67.8 million), Black Adam did surpass the earnings for 2019's Shazam!, which pulled in a domestic total of $53.5 million in its opening weekend.
Black Adam earned $73 million across 76 markets in its international opening, making for a current worldwide total of $140 million. "As a spin-off, this is a strong opening," said David A. Gross, the head of Franchise Entertainment Research. "Black Adam should do well abroad and be comfortably profitable." Black Adam's opening night alone earned $7.6 million in Thursday night previews, marking one of the best opening nights for its star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Industry sources claim that if the film had surpassed $68 million in its first weekend, it would be Johnson's best solo opening of his career.
Starring Johnson in the title role, Black Adam is a spinoff of 2019's Shazam! and will mark the DCEU debut of the JSA (Justice Society of America), which will consist of Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone. Johnson has repeatedly stated that Black Adam would mark a "new era" for the DCEU, with the DC film marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman in a post-credits scene.
The actor has confirmed that he "absolutely" has plans for a Black Adam vs. Superman film, saying, "That is the whole point of this, man." He continued, "I have been saying for some time, there's a new era in the DC Universe that's about to begin. And what I meant by that was introducing a brand new character. It's not a sequel, not an existing IP. It was...you know, Black Adam!"
Originally scheduled to release in December 2020, Black Adam officially began filming in April 2021 after a lengthy delay due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Throughout the months of filming, Johnson was open about his intense training schedule for the role of the titular anti-hero, routinely posting updates on his diet and fitness regimen. On top of that, Johnson also shared several behind-the-scenes looks from the Black Adam set, including teases of his costume as well as the film's "cutting edge" technology.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam stars Johnson as the titular anti-hero and arrives in theaters on Oct. 21, 2022.
Source: Variety