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Black Adam is the latest offering from DCU. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the film stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. The former WWE superstar was selected for the role more than a decade ago, and Black Adam finally came to fruition in 2022.
The DC film still lacked the excitement usually attached to other DC titles. Despite Dwayne Johnson's best efforts to get fans excited about the film after months of marketing, the film failed to make a real dent at the box office, and critics don't deem it all too good for the movie either.
Why did Black Adam flop? In this piece, we detail the current performance stats of Black Adam at the box office and what could have saved the film from failure. DCU is moving in a new direction, with co-CEO James Gunn bringing in big plans for the future. It remains to be seen whether Black Adam remains a part of that future or not.
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Black Adam's box office performance, what led to its failure, and what could have been saved the film
The box office performance
A report from Variety suspects that the film might end up being a financial flop. While the film has made around $387 million globally at the box office, it cost almost $200 million to produce. On top of that, the film's marketing is said to have cost $100 million, though many dispute this claim with a lower figure of $80 million.
The earlier estimates for a break-even point were around $600 million, but seeing the performance of the film so far, they're down to $400 million globally. The film fell much short of the reported earnings of Justice League, which stood at a disappointing $655 million. It might be the latest flop from the DCU, which is already facing plenty of heat in that regard.
Reasons for Black Adam being a flop (and how it would have been saved)
The release window
The first and foremost would be the release window for the film. While Dwayne Johnson is a big Hollywood star, he went against the tide as it came right before huge potential blockbusters such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Even if Black Adam has yet to weather the storm for some more time, Avatar: The Way of Water will likely divert any leftover attention away from the film. Had the film pivoted to a slightly earlier release window, as it was originally scheduled for a summer release, it would have taken care of the imminent competition from the likes of Marvel and James Cameron.
Black Adam and Shazam belong together
The anti-hero has been a part of DC Comics for many years. While he's established to be extremely prominent, he's a direct archnemesis to Shazam, who made his DCU debut in 2019. It could have been a good opportunity for the anti-hero to make his debut right there.
Shazam 2 is also coming out next year and will mostly be a success given that it follows the same tone as the first. Shazam is already an established hit, but Johnson pushed for a solo film. He also doesn't like the lighter tone of Shazam, which only works to delay DC Studios' plans to lead to an eventual confrontation.
Instead of Shazam, we saw Henry Cavill return as Superman. While that is certainly a treat, it was still in the post-credits scene of the film. Having Shazam instead of Superman would have been a much better choice, while Henry Cavill could have focused on another Superman project. This context definitely weakens the case for a Black Adam solo movie.
The DCU has no time for experiments
The anti-hero was front and center of the latest DCU offering. Now that we know the film's impact, it's clear that it should not have been released at a time when DCU is already at such a weak point.
Aquaman was the most profitable entry, coming out in 2018. Following the failures of the Justice League and the Snyderverse movement, we now have new characters before DC Studios had a chance to correct their previous characters.
The Justice Society of America is certainly a welcome addition to the annals of the DCU. We get introduced to Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and Hawkman, all of whom are moderately famous DC characters. Within the scope of the film, though, they're used as stand-ins who work to showcase Black Adam's prowess.
Matt Reeves' Batman, on the other hand, was a fresh breath of air, and it features a new rendition of an already famous DC hero. Had DC focused on the project to directly incorporate already known characters, it would have been a much different film, and arguably a more profitable one as well.
