Black Adam ends its domestic run with a whimper at the box office. The DCEU movie that was supposed to thrive on Dwayne Johnson’s shining star really has to be considered as a flop given the expense of the movie to film. As you can see from the social media post below, Black Adam barely made more than Green Lantern after adjustments for inflation.
DC’s BLACK ADAM has topped out at $168M domestic—adjusted for inflation that’s just $15M more than GREEN LANTERN.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) January 3, 2023
Bear in mind that due to reshoots the budget for Black Adam was reportedly $260 million. Now I know these profits only account for the U.S. however that was still the movie’s biggest market by far. The point being that either Black Adam made enough to cover it costs barely or it lost money.
I won’t claim to know which, but I think we can definitely see that once again this DCEU movie failed to land with audiences. You then really have to wonder at the small segment of fans sending death threats to James Gunn for destroying their beloved SnyderVerse? Poor box office and DCEU simply went hand in hand. If the small segment of fans that want it to continue are realistic, they’d have to to be charged triple the cost of any other movies just to make it even remotely viable going forward.
RELATED: James Gunn Debunks January DCU Reveal Rumor
This folks is why WB/D are rebooting the DCEU into the DCU. Only with consistently good movies will DC create any kind of buzz that gets fan into theatres.
I’d also argue that it will be very hard for The Flash to create any interest unless it is absolutely excellent and word of mouth spreads. That was another expensive movie to make. Whereas the upcoming Blue Beetle will probably prove more profitable overall for the studio just down to having a far lower budget to begin with. This year we should find out more about what comes next for the new DCU. Until then you can catch Black Adam soon on streaming if you fancy judging it for yourself.
What do you think of the news that Black Adam ends its domestic run with a whimper at the box office? What did you think about the movie if you’ve seen it already? Thoughts below as always.