Black Adam box office numbers so far: Did the film lose money?

Black Adam may not be trending on the internet right now, but the conversation about the Black Adam box office numbers is never-ending. Dwayne Johnson claimed that it would change the “hierarchy of power in the DC universe,” and he still backs his claim in terms of introducing Teth-Adam as one of DCU’s most powerful protagonists. But what about its earnings?

Black Adam has only beaten three of the weakest DCEU movies in terms of box office totals alone as it went past Wonder Woman 1984, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and Shazam! But besides Wonder Woman 1984, the other two movies weren’t box office disasters as they had lower budgets. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the man in black.

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What are the Black Adam box office numbers till now?

Black Adam box office numbers suffering (image via DC)

Black Adam had a solid opening of $67 million domestically. But the numbers dropped after that as it ended up with a domestic total of just $166 million and $388 million worldwide. For a project that reportedly had $195 million as its production budget and about $100 million as its marketing budget, the earnings are substantially low.

In a report, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) stated that with this massive expenditure, Black Adam had to go beyond $600 million to turn in a profit because the theater chains also get a rough cut of about 50% of a film’s total earnings. So with Black Adam making almost $390 million, the revenue that Warner Bros. Discovery would earn will be mostly half of that ($184 million as per Deadline).

So, that’s over a $100 million loss for the studio as far as theatrical numbers are concerned. But that’s not the entire truth behind the Black Adam box office numbers.

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Did Black Adam lose money?

As soon as THR’s article about Black Adam losing money hit the internet, it didn’t take long for Deadline and the Rock to counter their findings. To save face, Johnson claimed that his latest DC movie would turn in a profit of $52 million.

The math behind this stated that the additional earnings from Black Adam’s early digital release and its streaming release in the Holiday period would be around $200 million. So, all in all, the film will end up in a winning scenario. Here's the breakdown of Black Adam’s profit and loss:

Black Adam box office numbers (image via Deadline)

While speaking with THR, a WB representative claimed that Black Adam only needed to make $400 million instead of $600 million to break even. He must have said that while keeping Black Adam’s digital earnings in mind, as the film did reach close to WB’s target. So technically, the answer to “did Black Adam lose money?” is no.

Low Black Adam box office numbers (Image via DC)

The Black Adam box office numbers would suggest that the movie was a massive misfire and would have surely lost millions of dollars. But the film was saved by its PVOD and streaming rentals.

Usually, PVOD and streaming rental revenue are a bonus for a studio. So, it is quite embarrassing for Black Adam to barely go past its budget and have practically no effect on the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe.