Warner Bros./DC’s “Black Adam” has earned the biggest opening weekend the box office has seen since “Thor: Love and Thunder” more than three months ago, taking a $67 million launch from 4,401 theaters domestically in addition to $73 million overseas for a $140 million global opening.
That figure tops the $60 million opening that star Dwayne Johnson posted with the “Fast & Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw” in August 2019 and is consistent with the $67 million opening that Jason Momoa’s “Aquaman” earned in December 2018. It is also closer to the $70 million projections that independent trackers initially posted before lowering them to $60 million shortly before release.
Though it is modest compared to $100 million-plus openings that superhero films like “Love and Thunder” and Warner/DC’s “The Batman” have earned, it is a positive result for Warner Bros. at a time when it is facing a slew of headlines over widespread layoffs and spending cuts in the wake of its merger with Discovery. In the midst of the merger chaos, all six of Warner’s releases this year have opened to No. 1 at the box office, though “The Batman” and “Elvis” so far are the only two to gross over $100 million domestically.
With a reported $195 million budget before extensive marketing costs, “Black Adam” will need to have strong holdover totals over the next two weekends as it is likely to see a steep drop in revenue when Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” comes out on Nov. 11. Critics weren’t impressed by “Black Adam” with a 40% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences were much stronger with a 90% RT score, a B+ on CinemaScore and a 3.5/5 stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s Posttrak.
While other recent comic book films that earned a B+ on CinemaScore like “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and last year’s “The Suicide Squad” haven’t had particularly strong legs, Dwayne Johnson’s star appeal combined with the film’s status as the only blockbuster currently in theaters may give “Black Adam” more sustaining power in the weeks ahead.
In second is Universal’s romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise,” which has opened to $16.3 million from 3,543 locations. That is above projections of a $12 million opening and consistent with the $16 million start for Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: A New Era” this past May.
As expected, “Ticket” skewed much older than “Black Adam” this weekend, with 64% of viewers for the George Clooney/Julia Roberts film being over the age of 35. This result is also a small rebound for romantic comedies after fellow Universal release “Bros” tanked at the box office with just $11.4 million grossed domestically, though that can likely be attributed to Clooney and Roberts having much stronger drawing power than what “Bros” had to offer, with Billy Eichner being its most prominent actor.
Though it was filmed on a rather hefty $60 million budget, “Ticket to Paradise” is already on its way to profitability thanks to a strong international performance. Through two weekends, the film has already picked up $80.2 million from 77 markets, giving it a running global total of $96.6 million. Universal is banking on “Ticket” continuing to draw in older audiences off of strong word of mouth — A- on CinemaScore and 81% overall positive score on Posttrak — as bigger blockbusters come out heading into November.
The bad news for Universal is that Blumhouse’s “Halloween Ends” has collapsed at the box office, falling 80% from its $41 million opening to a second weekend total of just $8 million. That’s even below the $8.3 million that Paramount’s “Smile” earned in its fourth weekend, putting that film in third on the charts as its domestic total stands at $84.3 million.
With $54 million grossed domestically and $82 million grossed worldwide against a $30 million budget, “Halloween Ends” has already turned a profit for Universal. But as pointed out in our WrapPRO column this past week, theaters were hoping for more from this reboot trilogy capper, and it is looking like audiences are choosing “Smile” for their Halloween horror viewing in theaters rather than “Halloween Ends,” which faces poorer word-of-mouth as well as day-and-date availability on Peacock.
Completing the Top 5 is Sony’s “Lyle Lyle Crocodile,” which is looking like it is going to flop at the box office with $4.2 million grossed this weekend and a $28.7 million domestic total against a $50 million budget co-financed with TSG Entertainment. With “Black Adam” getting strong reception from families, it is likely that “Lyle” will be losing steam as the popularity of comic book movies attracts kids, and the current numbers show that “Lyle” hasn’t gained enough traction with parents of younger children to stem the tide.