Recently, we found out that Dwayne Johnson's fate as Black Adam in the DCU has been sealed as they announced that he is no longer continuing to play the role anytime soon while leaving the door open for him to return in a potential multiverse project. The decision comes after the film's underwhelming box office performance and conflicting reports regarding its profitability.
In a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter regarding the status of Black Adam, they revealed that the film ended up costing more than what was initially reported. According to them, the budget rose from $190 million to $260 million due to reshoot costs that resulted from poor test screening.
Since the film only grossed $391 million worldwide, the film wasn't able to be profitable theatrically even though a report from Deadline and Johnson's Twitter post insisted that they were able to make a profit from its box office and other revenues.
However, whether the film's profitability is being contested or not, the decision on Black Adam's future has already been decided by James Gunn and Peter Safran as it is official that plans for the sequel are not moving forward and we won't be seeing Johnson on the role anytime soon (or the "first chapter" of the franchise as his statement defined it).
It is pretty clear at this point that the film's box office performance didn't meet the expectations of the studio which may have contributed to this decision by Gunn and Safran. Factoring in the alleged huge costs that they spent to make the film, it certainly discouraged them to move forward with any sequels or spinoffs.
For now, let's wait and see which announcements will Gunn and Safran make regarding the future of the DCU franchise in the coming months as several changes are coming as suggested by the recent news.
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Black Adam is available to stream on HBO Max.
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