Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's sizable salary for the DCEU's Black Adam movie has been revealed, though the figure isn't final yet. Since beginning his acting career in the early 2000s, the WWE wrestler turned action hero is now one of the most bankable movie stars working in Hollywood today. Like many actors, Johnson's career saw a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though he returned in 2021 with Disney's Jungle Cruise and followed that up with Netflix's Red Notice.
Johnson's superhero debut has been in the making for many years, starting way back in 2007 when he was first attached to the role of Black Adam and later planned to appear in Shazam!. Those plans were scrapped in order to give Johnson his own solo Black Adam movie. The upcoming project will explore the titular anti-hero's origins as a slave from Kahndaq, who is imprisoned for thousands of years after abusing the powers given to him by the ancient wizard Shazam. With Johnson as the lead, the Black Adam supporting cast includes Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.
Now, a new report reveals how much Johnson is set to earn from his DCEU superhero debut. According to Variety, The Rock will receive a $22.5 million salary for Black Adam. The report also specifies that Johnson asked for that exact sum and studio obliged.
Johnson's Black Adam salary is the highest among his fellow DC stars. Jason Momoa will earn $15 million for his lead role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, more than double his salary from the first film. Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix's salary for Joker 2 is $20 million, four times the $4.5 million salary he received for the first film. Both Aquaman and Joker topped $1 billion at the box office, which caused both Phoenix and Momoa to renegotiate their deals with Warner Bros. Johnson's $22.5 million salary for Black Adam is not final, however, as he will receive a few more million for producing the film and earn additional fees for promoting the movie across his social media channels.
While Johnson's base Black Adam salary is dwarfed by some of the payouts he has received for other movie projects, such as $50 million for Amazon's Red One, it is still a sizable salary for Johnson's DCEU superhero debut. Although, while streamers essentially pay out an actor's backend upfront, this is not the case with traditional theatrical releases. Depending on how Black Adam fares at the box office, Johnson could still stand to earn a lot more than this impressive number from the DC film.
Source: Variety
