Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam Production Reportedly Delayed Until 2021

The coronavirus pandemic caused the entire entertainment industry to shut down earlier this year, affecting not only films scheduled to come out in 2020, but everything preparing for any sort of production as well. Movies set to hit theaters in 2021 and 2022 were already in production when the pandemic it, and those shoots have remained on hold, to this point. This also goes for films like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s Black Adam, which was supposed to shoot this summer. Now it looks like the movie won’t go into production until 2021, potentially delaying its release date even further.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson will be finishing filming Netflix’s Red Notice later this year, as soon as the opportunity for production presents itself. He needs to finish that project before moving on to Black Adam, a movie he’s been openly passionate about for some time. Because of the delays, and Red Notice‘s schedule, it’s likely that Black Adam won’t begin shooting until 2021.

The shoot was originally scheduled for this spring, but ending up being pushed to late summer/early fall when the pandemic shut things down. As recently as April, Johnson remained confident that the shoot would take place in 2020.

“We still plan on shooting probably at the end of summer now, probably pushed into the end of August or September,” Johnson said. “That is a project I hold near and dear to my heart and so I can’t wait to get started.”

Black Adam is the rival of Shazam in DC Comics, originating as a full-on villain but becoming more of an anti-hero in recent years. Johnson’s take on the character will eventually come face-to-face with Zachary Levi’s Shazam on-screen. While many casual fans may not be as familiar with Black Adam, it’s a character that Johnson has been trying to bring to life for more than a decade.

“Black Adam has been with me for over ten years now,” Johnson told fans during a Q&A. “And that gives you an idea of how passionate I am with this project, how passionate our Seven Bucks is about this project. Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, DC, they have been so incredibly supportive over the years. This has been over 10 years. In 2008, we started talking about this, so it has required a patience by all of us as partners and I am a much different man and an actor than I was 10 years ago.”

Black Adam is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 22, 2021. Of course, that date could easily change if production continues to be delayed.