Warner Bros.’ “Black Adam” opens Sunday with an estimated $67 million, according to studio estimates, making Dwayne Johnson the lead actor and DC comics’ character biggest box office hit in a decade.
“Black Adam” was his $200 million bid to unbalance the powers of his universe ruled by Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman in DC Extended. Despite Johnson’s considerable appeal in the first superhero movie, the $67 million debut is far from that stratosphere. It was the best opening weekend since.
Black Adam took a detour and made it to the theater. The character was originally slated to appear as a villain in his 2019 Shazam! Before executives decided to give Black Adam a standalone feature, his even more ridiculous Shazam! It grossed $366 million.
But for Black Adam, the stakes were higher. While promoting the film, Johnson hasn’t been shy about his desire to follow Black Adam in his showdown with Superman. Whether or not remains unknown… Under new leadership, Warner Bros. is revamping its approach to DC Comics adaptations.
Warner Bros. sales director Jeff Goldstein hailed the result as Johnson’s personal best outside of the Fast and Furious series, and the popular action PG- 13 hailed as a movie. Still, it’s time for a transition for Warner Bros. to reorganize his DC entity, with the studio looking for even more Marvel-sized success. Next, “Shazam! Wrath of the Gods” will be broadcast in March.
Goldstein said, “It’s all about making good movies. It’s all about finding the right scripts. Our studio is definitely going through a major revamping of our production leadership and style and approach. I think that we’ll be able to crack this nut. We’re definitely focused on doing that.”
Bali-based romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise, starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney, proved to be clever counterprogramming. The Universal Pictures release debuted with his $16.3 million, well above the recent sales of rom-coms that have struggled at the box office in recent years. The film has already been a hit overseas, opening last month and hitting his $80.2 million in ticket sales.
Earlier this month, Universal’s R-rated “Bros,” an LGBTQ milestone in the genre, debuted with a disappointing $4.8 million. “Ticket to Paradise” had a notable advantage in his two stars and appealed primarily to older audiences. According to the studio, 64% of ticket buyers were 35 or older.
“It became an event film for all audiences this weekend but especially for older audiences that can be difficult to get into theaters. We all know this is a demographic group that doesn’t exactly run out to see films opening weekend. That gives us great encouragement for the weeks and months ahead,” said Jim Orr, head of distribution for Universal.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at data firm Comscore, said the opening weekend had a record $65 million in opening games and more than $100 million in domestic ticket sales since July. He said it was largely due to star power in both Ticket to Paradise and Black Adam with Johnson.
“He was the engine that really drove this box office despite some headwinds in terms of the DC brand and this not being as known a character,” said Dergarabedian. “This is a very strong starting point for Dwayne Johnson in the mix of DC Comics. He’s like a box-office supercharger. Forty-percent Rotten Tomatoes, but people just want to see Dwayne Johnson on the big screen because he is bigger than life.”
Last week’s top movie, Halloween Ends, saw a significant drop in its second weekend. The Universal Horror sequel released at the same time on Peacock dropped 80% to $8 million. Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures’ “Smile” continued to defy the typical doldrums of a horror release. “Smile”, which grossed $8.4 million in its fourth week of release, ranked him No. 3, taking domestic gross sales to $84.3 million.
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