Black Adam Opening Night Preview Box Office Numbers Are Out

Black Adam opened strong on its preview night Thursday, raking in $7.6 million and remaining on track for upwards of $60 million this weekend. The number tops preview night box office takes for a number of Dwayne Johnson-fronted hits, including Jumanji: the Next Level ($4.7 million) and Fast and Furious 6 ($7.5 million), but falls short of some more recent ones, including Furious 7 ($15.8 million) and Fate of the Furious ($10.4 million). It also brings it roughly into line with modest superhero hits like Shazam! (which earned $5.9 million on its first Thursday, but had already made $9.2 million due to early fan screenings) and Ant-Man ($6.4 million).

Johnson and Warner Bros. Discovery are both hoping for a big hit with Black Adam, which is being promoted as a key turning point for Warner’s DC Films division. The division has been struggling for years, with Justice League underperforming massively compared to expectations and movies like Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad failing to perform at the box office (due in part to a day-and-date digital release necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic). 

Early tracking pegged the movie’s opening weekend projections at somewhere between $70 and $75 million, but as opening weekend drew closer, a somewhat more modest $60 million opening became the expectation.

You can see the official synopsis for Black Adam below.

From New Line Cinema, Dwayne Johnson stars in the action adventure Black Adam. The first-ever feature film to explore the story of the DC Super Hero comes to the big screen under the direction of Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise).

Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods-and imprisoned just as quickly-Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Johnson stars alongside Aldis Hodge (“City on a Hill,” “One Night in Miami”) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) as Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi (“Sex/Life,” “Rush Hour 3”) as Adrianna, Marwan Kenzari (“Murder on the Orient Express,” “The Mummy”) as Ishmael, Quintessa Swindell (“Voyagers,” “Trinkets”) as Cyclone, Bodhi Sabongui (“A Million Little Things”) as Amon, and Pierce Brosnan (the “Mamma Mia!” and James Bond franchises) as Dr. Fate.

Collet-Serra directed from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani, screen story by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani, based on characters from DC. Black Adam was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. The film’s producers were Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia, with Richard Brener, Walter Hamada, Dave Neustadter, Chris Pan, Eric McLeod, Geoff Johns and Scott Sheldon

Black Adam smashes into theaters and IMAX internationally beginning 19 October 2022 and in North America on October 21, 2022. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.