Dwayne Johnson Thanks Fans for ‘Shazam!’ Box Office Success

Shazam! has officially soared to the top spot of the worldwide box office this week, as audiences everywhere flock to the latest DC Extended Universe venture. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who serves as a producer on the film, has some pretty kind words for those who have been supporting the project.

Johnson recently posted a lengthy video on Instagram, in which he thanks the fans who helped make Shazam! the number one movie in the world. You can check it out below.

In the process, Johnson addresses his long-anticipated portrayal of Black Adam, which was originally slated to debut within Shazam! but has since been spun off into his own solo movie.

“Early on before I came on board they had experimented with the possibility of doing a Shazam vs Black Adam movie but I think they felt that that was, you know, it was better to just focus on Shazam first and give him his proper space and not have to also do Black Adam,” Shazam! director David F. Sandberg explained to ComicBook.com. “So it was a way of, like, have Sivana take more space and that, actually let him have some powers to play around with. So he could be a formidable foe.”

While Johnson’s Black Adam does make an appearance (of sorts) in Shazam!, he hinted that he’s excited to explore the character’s origins, and eventually kick everyone’s ass when he does play the character, a sentiment that WB execs have seemed to echo.

“Listen, we don’t know but I’ve gotta believe that there’s gonna be a standalone Black Adam movie before there’s ever a movie with Shazam and Black Adam sharing the screen,” Shazam! producer Peter Safran told ComicBook.com.

“Yeah I think that is the goal, it is giving heroes their time to shine and not feeling like you have to shoehorn in some universal connection amongst them all,” Safran continued. “The studio’s been incredibly supportive and DC’s been supportive about saying take the time that you need to introduce these characters in the right way and tell the stories that you really want to tell, and that the audiences really want to see with these characters.”

Shazam! is in theaters now. Other upcoming DC movies include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.