Several critics and fans were let down by Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam which premiered in theaters on October 21. The film is now streaming on HBO Max, giving more fans a chance to watch the movie.
Many called Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s performance “under-seasoned” and “ponderous.” IndieWire’s David Ehrlich also compared “Black Adam” to a “lifeless spectacle” and called the characters “a cheap photocopy of one from Gotham or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
Due to all this negative propaganda, the film “Black Adam” performed poorly at the box office, earning $400 million worldwide only. Without including the marketing and other costs to promote and distribute, the film was made with a budget of $195 million budget.
The variety calculated that the film would lose $50–100 million against a break-even point of $600 million. However, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film would ultimately turn a profit of $52–72 million due to a smaller estimated marketing budget of $80–100 million.
Moreover, Johnson disputed claims that “Black Adam” would lose between $50 million and $100 million. In a tweet, Johnson cited financiers, saying “Black Adam” would net between $52 million and $72 million.
There’s still hope for “Black Adam” to do well now that it’s streaming on HBO Max for its millions of subscribers. Plus, the movie is making its streaming debut over the holiday season, which could strengthen its chances.
Fans of Johnson are hoping that Black Adam will be another Morbius which was a Box Office bomb, losing drastically in theatres. Later, the deal with Netflix turned the fate of the film which make a satisfactory profit and entered into Netflix’s top 10 movies when streamed in September.
Black Adam is a fictional character and superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a supervillain and the arch-enemy of the superhero Captain Marvel/Shazam.
Black Adam was originally created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck in 1945 as a one-time villain for the Captain Marvel series. He later returned as a recurring character and has since become a prominent member of the DC Universe.
In the comics, Black Adam is a powerful and ancient Egyptian sorcerer who gains his powers from the same source as Captain Marvel, the wizard Shazam. However, unlike Captain Marvel, who uses his powers for good, Black Adam uses his powers for selfish and evil purposes. He has been depicted as a brutal and ruthless character with a hatred of Captain Marvel and a desire to rule the world.
The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Black Adam centers around Teth-Adam (Johnson), a superhuman from ancient Kahndaq who used his godly powers for vengeance and was then quickly imprisoned. After nearly 5,000 years, present-day archeologists freed Adam so he can help save Kahndaq from the crime syndicate Intergang. However, he’s provoked by the Justice Society: Doctor Fate (played by Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).