Black Adam‘s box office numbers hit $25 million on Friday, making it the best opening day for a film with Dwayne Johnson in the leading role ever. To put Black Adam’s numbers into perspective, that list includes Hobbs & Shaw, the Fast and Furious offshoot film from 2019, which pulled in $23.6 million; 2001’s The Mummy Returns ($23.1 million), 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level ($19.7 million) and 2015’s San Andreas ($18.1 million). With a $25 million first day, Black Adam is on pace to put the DCEU film off to a $60 million start.
Black Adam‘s box office numbers are impressive considering that the film has garnered less than stellar scores from critics — the film sits at a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. The audience’s assessment of the film could be the more discerning voice in this case, as the audience score sits at 88% and the film is on pace to become a box office smash.
Credit has to be given to Johnson as well, who has done an admirable job of marketing the movie himself via interviews and through social media; perhaps Johnson’s passion for the role, and the importance that he attaches to it (he fought for fifteen years to obtain the role, turning down other superhero roles and stated, “What’s critical is the investment in more superhero characters of color, and Black Adam is one of them. It was extremely important to me and one of the reasons why I was not letting go,”) will be determining factors that resonate with the fans and help cement it as a success. Or maybe moviegoers will be content to watch The Rock in a superhero costume f—- people up. Whatever the reason, we’ll keep you updated on Black Adam‘s box office numbers and how it fares in the minds of moviegoers as that information becomes available.
Will you be seeing Black Adam during its opening weekend in theaters? Let us know in the comments.
First day box office numbers source: Deadline
