It seems unlikely that Black Adam will surpass 2017's Justice League at the box office despite its successful opening weekend - but that's actually not surprising. Although Black Adam's opening weekend returns are higher than any other Dwayne Johnson-led film, it still sticks out as a financial disappointment among the DCU filmography, surpassing only 2018's Shazam! Although Black Adam is still in theaters, box office estimates show that the film will probably not beat Justice League's return, which itself was a massive disappointment for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Black Adam follows the titular hero from the ancient civilization of Kahndaq, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as he returns to the modern world and is forced to face off against the Justice Society of America. While the DCU has been struggling due to a lack of direction and middling critical and financial success, Black Adam was slated to be the start of a new DCU era built on the back of the marketable movie star. Black Adam was meant to push the DCU past the days of Justice League, reestablishing many characters and storylines. However, despite the star power of its lead and status as a blank slate for the DCU, the movie has in many ways failed to deliver. Thanks to a combination of questionable marketing, the popularity of its title character, and the impact of external competitors such as Marvel, it's clear that Black Adam has arguably failed in its mission to move the franchise past Justice League.
Why Black Adam's Box Office Won't Beat Justice League
The main reason that Black Adam won't beat Justice League is due to its marketing. Justice League was expected to make hundreds of millions of dollars, as it was the DCU's version of The Avengers, being the culmination of every film up to that point. It contained iconic characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and was marketed as one of the biggest movies of 2017. Black Adam, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as big of a deal. Although it includes immense star power, Black Adam just doesn't have as much name recognition as Batman or Superman, meaning that it wasn't expected to be as successful.
Black Adam's box office is unlikely to pass Justice League's at this point due to its opening weekend earnings. For a blockbuster like Black Adam, most of the film's revenue is made on the opening weekend, as most audiences see the movie when it's a new release. Justice League's opening weekend far outperformed Black Adam's, with the former opening with $278.8 million, while the latter opened with $67 million. This discrepancy means that, however well Black Adam performed across its run, reaching Justice League's total was always going to be a challenge.
How Much Will Black Adam Make At The Box Office?
As of the writing of this article, Black Adam has proven to be a mild box-office success, currently sitting at $351 million worldwide. While the movie remained at the number one spot for a while after its October 21 release, it saw a major drop-off due to one big competitor: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The weekend that Wakanda Forever came out, Black Adam only made $8.1 million, which was a 56% drop from the previous weekend. This shows that after four weekends, Black Adam is on its last box office legs, with it not expected to make much more than it currently has.
What Black Adam's Box Office Means For The DCU
Black Adam seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back, with it being the last film released before DC's big leadership change, with the company bringing in James Gunn and Peter Safran to head the studio. Although DC hoped that Black Adam would reinvigorate excitement for the DCU, the film even underperformed movies that were released during the height of COVID-19 when streaming numbers are taken into account. Although it's still too early to say, Gunn and Safran's new leadership positions are undoubtedly signs of a change in direction, and Black Adam's box-office returns probably have something to do with it.
It seems like the DCU may be shifting focus away from shared-universe films and towards its more critically and commercially successful stand-alone films. This can be seen in the fact that movies like Batgirl are being canceled, while projects like The Batman universe and Joker: Folie a Deux are moving forward. While DC isn't completely tossing out Black Adam, with Dwayne Johnson hinting at a future fight with Superman or Shazam, DC seems to finally be shifting away from its Justice League-centric films due to the box office underperformance of movies like Black Adam.
