Written By Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
The critics howl, but pre-show audiences praise the Rock’s Black Adam. As of press time, Black Adam owns a whopping 87% verified audience score. Predictably, reviewers dismiss the movie with a low 45%. The distance between opinions isn’t shocking. The Rock clearly made Black Adam as a crowd-pleasing action/adventure film. Nothing more, nothing less.
In other words, he didn’t intend for it to be transcendent genre cinema like Logan or The Dark Knight. You go to see a movie like Black Adam for the fights. After years of pandemic suffering, it provides an escape from reality. Without a doubt, Black Adam satisfies its target market.
For DC Films, this is quite promising. The new Warner Bros. Discovery regime needed a quick shot in the arm.
Audiences Give The Rock’s Black Adam High Praise
Image: DC Films
Nevertheless, they haven’t counted the box-office results yet. Deadline speculates a U.S. opening weekend around $60 million. On the other hand, my sources predict it to be higher. Certainly, the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ grade can cause a small dent. It’s unfortunate that some moviegoers allow RT to make decisions for them. But that’s reality.
Still, word-of-mouth, as always, overrule any bad reviews. If the general public continues to share their enthusiasm with others, it’s irrelevant what the press says. Moreover, Black Adam can expect an opening global haul of $135 million.
Without a doubt, Henry Cavill’s Superman return in Black Adam helps fuel ticket sales. However, the ads don’t spoil Cavill’s presence. I remember seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home on opening day and the crowd screamed when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield showed up.
They had no idea.
Audiences Give The Rock’s Black Adam High Praise
Image: Warner Bros.
Likewise, Warner Bros. Discovery expects those reactions from casual fans. Cavill will likely trend on Twitter, causing more interest in Black Adam.
Although the old Warner Bros. regime turned Black Adam into reality, DC Films’ new leadership added its final blow. The Rock said he spent six years fighting Warner Bros. to include Cavill. When Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy took over Toby Emmerich, they flew Cavill in.
Therefore, if Black Adam becomes a smash, credit Warner Bros. Discovery as well for the winning score. They all hope for a home run. It looks like they’ll get one.