A Quick Guide Into Why Black Adam Flopped So Hard
Not everything works out fine even if you put 15 years of work into it.
After days of radio silence on Black Adam 's future in the DCU, Dwayne Johnson has finally released a statement on what's to come — and news flash, there is, unfortunately, nothing to come for his character in the nearest future.
"James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling," Johnson said. "However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters."
Meanwhile, Gunn's response was also as friendly as possible, even though fans believe there is a huge behind-the-scenes drama going on.
"Love @TheRock & I'm always excited to see what he & Seven Bucks do next. Can't wait to collaborate soon," Gunn replied.
While this may sound like a bleak ray of hope for Black Adam to return at some point later, it's clear that a sequel to The Rock's first movie will not arrive any time soon. And even though Johnson believes that "we did great" with Black Adam, the movie's road to (and from) big screens was largely a misfortune. Here's why.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Black Adam is first of all not profitable enough for it to move forward. Initially, the movie was greenlit with a $190 million budget, but additional reshoots after poor test screenings "ballooned" the budget to $260 million. When marketing expenses are also taken into account, Black Adam's modest box office of $391 million globally simply does not pay off.
Even though Deadline reported that Black Adam was profitable after all, with Johnson promoting the movie's box office apparent success on Twitter (a very unusual thing for an actor or a producer to do in and of itself), things do not seem to add up.
After Black Adam spent 15 years in the making, the disappointing outcome quickly ruined hopes for Johnson's much-touted hierarchy change in the DCU. According to fans, movie's woes come from poor writing, and the fact that it took so long to make does not make it look any better.
Discussing Film's managing editor Andrew Salazar called Black Adam "the most checklist blockbuster in a lab" and blasted Johnson for trying to "build their own narrative on the box office".
The Rock's acting also did not receive a lot of good reviews, with many criticizing it as "redundant", and even Henry Cavill 's cameo in the end did not save the movie. Ironically, even Cavill himself had to step down as Superman after Gunn and Safran started to get things ready to implement their own vision of DCU.
Black Adam's DCU journey has a sad ending, with Johnson unfollowing the Black Adam and Warner Bros. Instagram accounts. Now, DC Studios is awaiting its yet another reboot, with less and less fans believing that their favorite universe can be saved after all.