Even with the future of Dwayne Johnson’s antihero in question, Black Adam is getting a lot of people watching on HBO Max. The film made its streaming debut on the platform this week, and one day later, Black Adam stands tall as the No. 1 film, knocking Amsterdam down to No. 2. A Star Is Born, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Elf make up the rest of the Top 5. While the Top 10 isn’t available for subscribers to view on HBO Max, as is the case with Netflix, the list can be found at Flix Patrol (via ComicBook.com).
It’s a win for Black Adam after coming up short of studio expectations at the box office with its theatrical run. The film was not cheap to develop, reportedly costing around $200 million before additional costs for marketing. But, of course, the goal was for the seemingly-anticipated film to be a heavy hitter for Warner Bros. along the lines of something like The Batman, which pulled in over $770 million when released in theaters earlier this year. Black Adam conversely sits around $390 million in international box office sales, a return that’s not terrible but still at least several hundred million shy of what Warner Bros. Discovery execs were likely hoping for.
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Black Adam was several years in the making as a passion project for The Rock. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and featuring The Rock in the lead role, the film also introduced the Justice Society of America with Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. The film follows Adam after he’s released from magic imprisonment to take on a crime syndicate to free the nation of Kahndaq.
Black Adam 2 Doesn’t Seem Likely to Happen
Warner Bros.
An important part of Black Adam was its post-credit sequence which teased further confrontations between The Rock’s Black Adam and Henry Cavill’s Superman. The Rock says he spent years campaigning before finally getting permission to feature Cavill back in the role for the film. The idea was for the two characters to battle in a future sequel, with Cavill also appearing in many other projects. Peter Safran and James Gunn had other plans after they boarded DC Studios, canceling Cavill’s Superman return.
Meanwhile, other planned projects are also getting squashed. It’s been confirmed that Wonder Woman 3 with Gal Gadot is no longer happening, while a rumored Batman Beyond film starring Michael Keaton has also reportedly been nixed. More rumors suggest that Jason Momoa will be moving on from Aquaman and taking on the role of Lobo in the DCU moving forward. It seems like the DCEU continuity established by the Snyderverse will end with The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, making it seem very unlikely that Black Adam 2 will happen.
In any case, you can stream Black Adam by watching the film on HBO Max.