'Black Adam' Gets Its Shot at the Box Office
by EG
Theaters have been struggling throughout the fall as no movies have managed to be breakout hits. This weekend, they're getting their best chance at a ticket-sales turn-around: a new superhero movie in the form of Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson. If that's not enough, there's also a new romantic comedy, Ticket to Paradise, starring once-reliable A-listers George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Read on for details.
VIa Box Office Mojo.
Finally, Black Adam signals the return of the blockbuster. The DCEU film could not come soon enough, arriving after a brutal box office drought with 12 straight weekends where the overall box office was below $100 million, a streak that will hopefully be broken this weekend. After over two months of what was ultimately counter-programming without the main programming, it’s great to have some heavier weight classes back in the ring, which started with last weekend’s disappointing but still good $40.1 million opening for Halloween Ends. Black Adam isn’t the sort to come even close to a nine digit opening (for that we’ll have to wait three weeks for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), but two weeks in a row of at least mid-eight digit openings is bringing some much needed relief to a struggling marketplace.
Black Adam is a spinoff from Shazam!, and while the anti-hero title character and the accompanying Justice Society of America members are no household names, the film’s star certainly is. This has been a passion project for Dwayne Johnson, who plays Black Adam and also produces, and he has been involved with the project for longer than the DCEU has even been in existence. Johnson reteams with Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra for the comic book film, and he is joined on screen by Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.
Black Adam is opening this week in most of the world, though Japan will get the film in December and China is still a question mark. As far as DC films go, Shazam! is the best comp. The 2019 superhero film opened to $53 million and finished with $140 million domestic and $366 million worldwide. That would be a disappointment for Black Adam, which cost $195 million to produce, but the darker edged film is tracking higher for its opening, with the both pent up demand for a big effects film and Dwayne Johnson’s entry into the world of superheroes likely helping out. Shazam! won over critics (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A CinemaScore) alike, while the reception on Black Adam has been middling thus far (54% on Rotten Tomatoes). This may not hurt the opening, but it may hurt its chances to play beyond the faithful. Whether it turns into a massive moneymaker or not, though, it is at least sure to be the biggest opener since Thor: Love and Thunder over three months ago (no film since has even opened above $50 million).
Though Black Adam is the main event, there is some good counter-programming on offer with the romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise. This old fashioned star vehicle has George Clooney and Julia Roberts in the lead roles, marking their fifth collaboration together. They play a divorced couple that decides to work together and go to Bali to prevent their daughter from marrying a guy she just met. The $60 million budgeted film from director Ol Parker is unusual in the current marketplace, and this sort of thing hardly makes it to the big screen anymore, let alone with such a big budget. When it does, it doesn’t set the box office on fire the way it used to, but the star power and strong hook could draw in the older audience which has been largely absent from movie theaters lately.
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