The Rock May Have Doomed Black Adam 2 With The Original’s Price Tag
The Rock's Black Adam 2 was doomed because the original movie had a monster $260 million budget.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson may have doomed Black Adam 2 simply because the movie cost far too much to make, though he attempted to negate those reports by sharing an alleged false report to Deadline that stated that Black Adam was set to make anywhere between $52 to $72 million in profits. However, the actuality of the reports from the box office is that Black Adam was set to lose $50 to $100 million in profits. Now, it has been revealed that the Johnson-led DC feature ballooned to nearly $70 million over its original budget due to unnecessary reshoots.
Warner Bros. initially agreed to the $190 million price tag for The Rock’s Black Adam, but that price tag jumped into the $260 million range after 20 days of reshoots that have now been deemed “unnecessary.” These reshoots were the cause of the poor test screenings amongst audiences, and DC thought that retooling the movie might help its case. Based on this massive budget for the first movie, it makes sense that Warner Bros. Discovery put the kibosh on future Black Adam features. Johnson also revealed that James Gunn and Peter Safran do not have plans to make a sequel for the movie, as it is not part of their growing DCU plans.
The Rock also indicated that it took some 15 years to make Black Adam, which makes this situation that much more depressing. This is certainly not going to deter Johnson from being a mega movie star, and he has also stated that the Black Adam character could be in future DC movies, but he is going to step away from the character for now. DC is going through a major facelift, and even though Johnson was hoping to be one of the key figures in the new universe plans, he will sadly have to take a back seat.
Current DC Films co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have indicated that their upcoming slate of movies, shows, and games is going to be revealed at the beginning of next year. This new slate is certainly not going to involve The Rock or Black Adam but expect to see some new exciting developments happening. There have been many teasers from Gunn via his social media platforms, and there is a growing rumor that Jason Momoa is going to take the role of Lobo.
These are all just rumors at this point, but we would hope that Momoa is going to step away from portraying Aquaman so that he can play a much more interesting character. Also, should Lobo be brought into the DCU, then there could be a chance for The Rock’s Black Adam to return. Imagine Lobo and Black Adam going at it in a movie.
For now, The Rock and Black Adam are done in DC. The thing that everyone has to remember is that the movie business is a business. When movies fail to hit the mark on making money for a studio, it is the studio’s job to cut the said movie, despite whatever star is in the lead role. Johnson’s attempts to keep Black Adam in a resetting franchise were admirable, but that is all they can be for now.
