Black Adam, the latest DC Comics movie, will reportedly be reaching HBO Max just in time for the holidays. The action movie stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Shazam! villain, who has to face off against the Justice Society of America. The film hit theaters in October and returned to the spotlight this week after Johnson disputed reports that the movie would end its theatrical run as a financial disappointment for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The movie will hit HBO Max on Dec. 16, 57 days after the film opened in theaters, reports Deadline. This extended theatrical and VOD window comes as Warner Bros. Discovery has kept movies only in theaters longer in recent months. Before the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger closed, the company had planned to release all 2022 movies to HBO Max within 45 days of theatrical release, but new CEO David Zaslav was no fan of that plan. The company made sure Elvis, another big box office hit, stayed exclusive to theaters and VOD platforms longer and did not release it to HBO Max until early September. Black Adam will also not be released on Blu-ray and DVD until Jan. 3.
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Black Adam, which cost $195 million to produce, became a hot topic in Hollywood this week after conflicting reports of its profitability surfaced. On Dec. 5, Variety reported that the movie would be a loser for Warner Bros. Discovery even though it is on track to finish with $387 million worldwide. The movie needed to earn about $600 million to break even or earn a profit, sources told the outlet. Insiders estimated that the movie would lose $50 to $100 million for Warner Bros. However, sources close to the studio said the real break-even number was $400 million.
Johnson disputed this report and later endorsed Deadline‘s report on Black Adam‘s profitability by tweeting out a link. “Waited to confirm with financiers before I shared this excellent [Black Adam] news – our film will PROFIT between $52M-$72M,” Johnson wrote on Dec. 7. “Fact. At almost $400M worldwide we are building our new franchise step by step (first Captain America did $370M) for the DC future.” As Johnson’s tweet points out, Deadline estimated that the film could turn a profit between $52 and $72 million, before even profits from Black Adam merchandise are included.
Johnson is also clearly hoping that his character will play a pivotal role in DC Comics movies going forward, but he may have no control over that even if Black Adam turns a profit. James Gunn and Peter Safran took over and are now planning to launch DC Studios. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter it is unlikely that Gunn and Safran would greenlight a Black Adam 2. Johnson’s movie also brought back Henry Cavill as Superman to prepare for the character’s return in The Flash and Man of Steel 2, but THR reports that Gunn and Safran are shutting down Man of Steel 2. There is even an internal debate at Warner Bros. about cutting Cavill’s Flash cameo so there aren’t too many teases for future projects that may never materialize.
