‘Black Adam’ rockets its way to top of North American box office

Warner Bros.’ new film Black Adam blew away all competition this weekend, leading the North American box office with an estimated take of R1.2 billion ($67 million), industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

A superhero origin story spun off from 2019’s Shazam, Black Adam stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the titular villain, a former slave endowed with miraculous powers by ancient Egyptian gods. 

“As a spinoff, this is a strong opening,” David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said, adding that it was a “positive and steady step forward for DC Comics,” the generator of many superhero films.

According to a recent report by Vibe, Dwayne Johnson has been trying to make DC Comic’s Black Adam into a live-action film since joining the project in 2014.

The publication further reports that many fans have wondered what took so long for the film to be made, and Johnson recently gave insight into the film’s setbacks.

“When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie. Now that was the goal—so it wasn’t a complete surprise,” the actor expressed. “But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, ‘We can’t make this movie like this.”

Other box office hits

In a distant second was another new release, Universal’s Ticket to Paradise, at R300 million ($16.3 million) for the Friday-through-Sunday period. Released earlier abroad, it has already taken in R1.4 billion ($80 million) outside North America.

“This is a very good domestic opening for a romantic comedy,” Gross said. 

READ: ‘The Woman King’ starring SA’s Thuso Mbedu rules American box office

It stars two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, as a bickering, divorced couple who fly to Hawaii to try to sabotage their daughter’s wedding. 

With Halloween approaching, the next two films were both horror specials.

Paramount’s Smile dropped one spot from last weekend to third, taking in R154 million ($8.4 million). Sosie Bacon plays a therapist whose grasp on reality is shaken by a horrifying event.

Next was Universal’s blood-soaked Halloween Ends, which dropped sharply from last weekend’s box-office-topping R761 million ($41.3 million) to just R147 million ($8 million). Jamie Lee Curtis stars.

And in fifth was Sony’s family-friendly Lyle Lyle Crocodile, at $4.2 million (R77 million).

Apart from the performance of Black Adam, overall, it was a good weekend for Hollywood, with combined revenue surpassing R1.8 billion ($100 million).

Rounding out the box office top 10 were:

• The Woman King ($1.9 million)
• Terrifier 2 ($1.9 million)
• Don’t Worry Darling ($880,000)
• Amsterdam ($818,000)
• Triangle of Sadness ($600,000)

READ NEXT: Review: Thuso Mbedu was meant to star in ‘The Woman King’