DC Films’ ‘Black Adam’ Rocks With Record (For Dwayne Johnson) $27 Million Friday

In the end, Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t need a Superman; they just needed a Black Adam. Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adam (review), the first four-quadrant, big-budget franchise tentpole since Thor: Love and Thunder in early July, nabbed $26.8 million on Friday. That easily topped the domestic box office and represents the best opening day ever for a Dwayne Johnson star vehicle. Among his previous big-deal theatricals, it’s behind Fast Five ($34 million on its way to an $86 million debut), Fast & Furious 6 ($38 million for a $117 million Fri-Mon debut), Furious 7 ($67 million/$147 million) and Fate of the Furious ($46 million/$99 million). Of note, he’s barely in Furious 7 (even if his few scenes were heavily featured in the marketing) while this opening day is bigger than Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw ($23 million/$60 million).

If it legs like a more recent Fast sequel, we’re looking at a $60-$63 million domestic debut. If it legs like Hobbs & Shaw or Skyscraper, it’ll open closer to $70 million. If it legs out with a 3x weekend multiplier, this Rampage, Jumanji: The Next Level and San Andreas, it’ll flirt with a Venom-worthy $80 million domestic debut. That seems unlikely considering the poor reviews (45% and 5.2/10 over at Rotten Tomatoes) a B+ Cinemascore (not bad but not superlative) and frontloaded nature of the less well-reviewed DC Films flicks (Batman v Superman, Man of Steel, etc.), but it’s not impossible. The whole ‘new DC Films superhero movie’ fandom will mostly but not entirely overlap with the ‘new family-friendly Dwayne Johnson action fantasy’ demographics, with the latter possibly offering a real boost on Saturday and Sunday matinees.

Even if it frontloads over the weekend, Black Adam will open closer to Johnson’s big-deal $55-$60 million debuts (Jumanji: The Next Level, San Andreas, Hobbs & Shaw) versus his ‘mere’ $35 million launches (Get Smart, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Rampage and Jungle Cruise). Anything over $61 million makes it the actor’s biggest non-Fast & Furious opening weekend ever. That’s arguably a bigger deal than how it compares to other DC/Marvel movies. Black Adam is the first DC/Marvel biggie where the lead actor is bigger than the marquee character since Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider in 2007 and before that, Wesley Snipes’ Blade in 1998. While we’re talking about a $195 million tentpole for a C-level superhero, for a film that might not get a pre-Covid sized boost in China, it’s still a very good opening by Johnson’s own standards.

Black Adam will open bigger than Shazam! which rode rave reviews and strong buzz to a $23 million Friday and $57 million (including sneak previews) debut weekend in early 2019. Covid complications notwithstanding, this should be the biggest DC debut for a non-Batman launch, and yes, I’m counting Joker as Batman-adjacent since Aquaman ($27.7 million Friday/$72 million weekend) in December 2018. It is another commercial win for the departing Walter Hamada, and a modest validation of Dwayne Johnson’s relentless (self) promotion. Discourse, handwringing and credit cookie speculation, aside, Black Adam is thus far playing like an upper-level Dwayne Johnson star vehicle with a little boost from being within the DC Films franchise. Or maybe vice versa. Either way and I mean this as a compliment, I look forward to watching Zachary Levi kick his ass in a few years.