Warner Bros. and DC Films’ Black Adam debuted at the top spot at the global box office, with $140 million. The superhero film made a better-than-expected $67 million in its domestic opening weekend, and added another $73 million from overseas markets. Black Adam is currently playing in 76 territories internationally, with Japan's release slated for December 2.
IMAX accounted for $10.8 million of that opening, with premium formats representing 33% of the haul. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and budgeted at a reported $195 million, this is also the biggest domestic opening for a Dwayne Johnson star vehicle, outside the Fast and Furious franchise.
In Latin American territories, Black Adam registered the third-biggest opening for a W.B. title in the pandemic era. The film made $3.5 million in its extended opening weekend in India, which is coinciding with the Diwali holiday. Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia accounted for $2.2 million, $2 million and $1.4 million of the global haul respectively. Singapore pulled $1.1 million, while the Philippines brought in $1 million.
The film couldn’t, however, match the global openings of fellow DC Extended Universe titles such as Man of Steel ($190 million worldwide), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($422 million globally), Justice League ($278 million globally), and even Matt Reeves’ standalone The Batman from earlier this year, which made $258 million in its worldwide opening weekend.
But Black Adam is pacing ahead of the closely-connected Shazam! in like-for-like markets across the world. And while that film cost much less (a reported $90 million), it was better received. Reviews for Black Adam have been mixed, but audience reception for the film has been significantly better. Black Adam received a B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences, and is currently sitting at a 90% audience score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Collider’s own Ross Bonaime wrote in his review that Black Adam “might not be the hero the DCEU needs, but it’s a welcome shift for this larger world and an invigorating look at the potential going forward in this universe.”
It's too early to tell if Black Adam will have the sort of legs that it needs to qualify as a bonafide hit, but this is a solid-enough result for a superhero movie that received so-so reviews and doesn't feature an A-list comic book character. Johnson stars alongside Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Marwan Kenzari as Sabbac, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Mo Amer, Bodhi Sabongu, and Sarah Shahi.
Collet-Serra directed the film from a screenplay written by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani. The film’s producers are Johnson, Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Chris Pan, Walter Hamada, Adam Schlagman, Geoff Johns, Eric McLeod and Scott Sheldon executive producing.
Black Adam is currently playing in theaters. You can watch our interview with Johnson here, and read the film’s official synopsis down below:
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam was bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Black Adam. Nearly 5,000 years have passed and Black Adam has gone from man, to myth, to legend. Now released, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone.