Dwayne Johnson just did a major flex at the multiplex.
Exceeding estimates, Black Adam banked $67 million in its opening weekend. The DC antihero origin story also added $73M overseas for a worldwide launch of $140M.
Domestically, it’s the first movie since early June’s Thor: Love and Thunder to open to over $50M. While Black Adam‘s three-day gross didn’t come close to Thor 4‘s $144M haul, it was a much-needed boost to a theatrical industry that has been anemic for the past few months. To that end, Black Adam elevated this past weekend’s collective industry gross to over $100 million for the first time since mid-July.
While the horror genre has kept theaters afloat recently (from the franchise “finale” Halloween Ends to surprise low budget hits Smile and Barbarian), these best-case numbers for Black Adam are priming the pump for a big 2022 finish, a year that saw the box office inch closer to pre-pandemic numbers — buoyed especially by major studio franchise tentpoles.
Critics bashed Black Adam with a 40% average on Rotten Tomatoes, but the RT audience score came in at 90%, suggesting a positive reception and possible legs for the movie that promised to shift the “hierarchy of power” in the DC Extended Universe.
Coming in second was Ticket to Paradise, the anticipated Rom-Com starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts that debuted in North America to the tune of $16 million. That opening number is significantly better than recent Rom-Com duds Bros ($4.8M) and Marry Me ($7.9M), and adds to the $80M tally that Ticket has garnered internationally over the past two weeks. Inching toward $100M worldwide is a good look against the star-driven vehicle’s $60M budget.
It’s also the best showing for a Rom-Com since the March release of The Lost City (which opened to $30M and went on to gross $105.3M domestically), but even that Sandra Bullock / Channing Tatum hit (with a Brad Pitt bonus) had an added layer of action to entice male viewers. Ticket to Paradise was a more straightforward Romantic Comedy, with the Clooney / Roberts star power luring auds to the struggling genre.
Rounding out the Top 5 were Smile at #3 ($8.4M; $84.3M total), Halloween Ends #4 ($8.4M in its 2nd weekend; $54.2M total), and kiddie fare Lyle, Lyle Crocodile at #5 ($4.2M; $28.7M total).
Black Adam will likely hold onto the top spot for the next few weeks — thus helping its efforts to recoup a $195M budget — until Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is unleashed on November 11.