Dwayne Johnson breaks silence on Black Adam’s future in revamped DC universe, admits franchise has hit pause

Dwayne Johnson's superhero project Black Adam released in October this year and bombed at the global box office.

Mumbai | December 21, 2022 08:55 AM IST

4 min read

Dwayne Johnson says he is happy to have received fan love on his ambitious superhero film Black Adam. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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Actor Dwayne Johnson on Wednesday gave fans an update regarding the the future of his big-ticket feature Black Adam, and revealed it has hit a pause button — at least for the time being, as the DC universe is revamped under new leadership.

Johnson’s superhero project released in October and bombed at the box office. The film grossed just $391 million (Rs 3100 crore) worldwide against a budget of $200 million, leading to reports that Warner Bros would lose around $100 million (Rs 820 crore) on the project. Through it all, the famously active-on-social-media star remained silent.

Also Read | Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam bombs at box office, expected to post almost Rs 820 crore in losses

Johnson took to Twitter and shared a note with his fans, revealing that Black Adam won’t be part of the new slate under James Gunn-led DC Studios.

“My passionate friends, I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character’s future in the new DC Universe. James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters.

“James and I have known each other for years and have always rooted for each other to succeed. It’s no different now, and I will always root for DC (and Marvel) to win and WIN BIG. You guys know me, and I have very thick skin – and you can always count on me to be direct with my words,” the first part of his note read.

Also Read | James Gunn responds to backlash at Henry Cavill’s Superman ouster, calls it ‘uproarious and unkind’

Noting that the decision made by James Gunn and DC leadership represents “their vision of DCU through their creative lens”, the star said he was nonetheless proud of Black Adam — a film he worked hard to mount for 15 years.

“These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens. After 15 years of relentless hard work to finally make Black Adam, I’m very proud of the film we delivered for fans worldwide. I will always look back on the fan reaction to Black Adam with tremendous gratitude, humility and love. We did great.

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“To my very passionate and vocal Black Adam/Super Hero genre fans – I love you, THANK YOU, and I will ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOU and do my best to deliver and entertain you. What a helluva month – now we all need some Teremana! Have a productive week and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and your families! Dq,” he concluded.

James Gunn and Peter Safran, the recently appointed CEOs of DC Studios, recently made major changes to the production and presentation of the studio’s film lineup, particularly the Superman and the Wonder Woman franchises.

As per Variety, when Gunn and Safran took over DC Studios in November, the plan for a new Superman film starring Henry Cavill was shut down. The two are revamping the DC Universe, beginning with a new Superman movie with a story by Gunn that won’t star Cavill.

Meanwhile, Patty Jenkins, director of the Wonder Woman films, had submitted a treatment for Wonder Woman 3 but it was not approved by the studio as it didn’t align well with the new plans of the CEO duo, Variety cited a studio insider as saying.

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