BLACK ADAM finished #1 at the box office with a strong opening weekend of $67M. We can now say confidently that the late summer drought in new movies with broad appeal has ended. Despite a poor reception from critics – 43% on Rotten Tomatoes -, Dwayne Johnson delivered his highest-grossing movie opening in a starring role other than the FAST & FURIOUS series. His previous best had been JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL, which opened with $59.3M on 12/13/19 – 12/15/19. With BLACK ADAM, Johnson is continuing his extended run as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood.
Warner Bros. expected great things from its latest DC universe release, after investing $195M in production. The take from international markets is expected to be equal to or perhaps even higher than the $67M taken from North America, placing BLACK ADAM on track to earn $200M worldwide in its opening week. In comparison with other DC Extended Universe openings, BLACK ADAM is well ahead of SHAZAM! which grossed $53.5M in its opening weekend from 4/5/2019 – 4/7/2019, but slightly behind AQUAMAN which opened with $67.9M from 12/21/2018 – 12/23/2018.
Johnson’s popularity prompted audiences to give BLACK ADAM a very solid 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One could argue that Johnson had a unique to deliver these results. Aside from Tom Cruise, no one works harder to promote his work and motivate a large fan following to buy tickets.
With the next two weeks devoid of any serious competition, BLACK ADAM will continue its reign and add to its box office totals. Even after the expected tsunami created by BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER on 11/11, BLACK ADAM will play on at least 2,000 screens throughout November, including the lucrative Thanksgiving weekend.
TICKET TO PARADISE finished in second place in its opening weekend, with $16.3M in ticket sales. This was a slightly better result than box office analysts had predicted prior to its release. The widely promoted romcom received a lukewarm 56% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes but the name recognition and likability of its headliners George Clooney and Julia Roberts led audiences to give it a positive 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is curious that Universal chose to release PARADISE on the same weekend as BLACK ADAM, after two months of Hollywood offering nothing of consequence from 8/12 to 10/10. While the two new titles appeal to different audiences, it does not seem to make much sense to open a new film directly in harm’s way, against a blockbuster superhero movie, having to struggle to get attention from film editors and on social media.
TICKET TO PARADISE had already grossed $72.6M internationally, by opening in mid-September dates well ahead of BLACK ADAM. One is left wondering what results in PARADISE would have had with an earlier debut, most likely leading to several weeks of first-place box office finishes.
In an upset, Paramount’s never-say-die SMILE outdueled HALLOWEEN ENDS for the horror audience, grossing $8.35M and dropping only 34% in its fourth weekend. Last week’s #1 movie HALLOWEEN ENDS dropped to fourth place, grossing $8M with a steep drop of 80% from last weekend. The Friday vs. Friday drop was a disastrous 88%, one of the steepest declines we have ever seen. This rebuke from moviegoers can be laid at the feet of Universal’s decision to launch HALLOWEEN ENDS simultaneously in theatres and streaming on Peacock.
