‘Black Adam’ Hits $25 Million Friday, Dwayne Johnson’s Best Opening Day As Leading Man – Friday PM Update - Deadline

UPDATE, Friday precocious afternoon: We are proceeding from sources that Black Adam is acceptable to marque $25 cardinal connected Friday, which would easy beryllium the champion opening time for Dwayne Johnson among his solo projects. THat database includes Hobbs & Shaw ($23.6M), Mummy Returns ($23.1M) Jumanji: Next Level ($19.7M) and San Andreas ($18.1M). Today’s $25M includes past night’s $7.6M successful preview screenings.

A $25M archetypal time presently puts the New Line/DC movie astatine a $60M start. Families could enactment this higher tomorrow; we’ll see. Hobbs & Show opened to $60M during the archetypal play of August 2019. Black Adam is besides 16% down F9 ($29.9M), which got to a $70M opening. Triple note: Johnson didn’t prima in F9, however, it’s being utilized arsenic a comp. Black Adam is booked astatine 4,402 theaters.

Universal owns the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively, during this home container bureau framework with the George Clooney-Julia Roberts rom-com Ticket to Paradise ($5.5M Friday, $13.7M opening astatine 3,543 theaters) and the 2nd play of Halloween Ends ($2.7M Friday, disconnected 87%, bully for $8.7M astatine 3,901 theaters, -78%; moving full $54.8M).

The 4th play of Paramount fearfulness movie Smile is 4th astatine 3,296 theaters. Its Friday is astatine $2.7M, -30%, a three-day full of $8.9M, -29%, and a moving full of $84.8M.

Sony’s 3rd play of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile at 3,536 theaters is seeing a Friday of $1.3M, -35%; a 3-day of $4.8M, -35%; and a moving full of $29.3M.

PREVIOUSLY, Friday AM: The New Line-DC Dwayne Johnson movie Black Adam racked up $7.6 million successful previews astatine 3,500 locations Thursday, a fig that beats the superstar’s erstwhile preview nights for Fast and Furious 6 ($7.5M), Hobbs and Shaw ($5.8M), Jumanji: The Next Level ($4.7M), San Andreas ($3.1M) and Rampage ($2.4M). This is astatine slightest a precise bully commencement for Black Adam. Fans ever travel retired connected Thursday night; let’s anticipation it keeps up.

While critics aren’t fans astatine 43% Rotten, the assemblage people connected Rotten Tomatoes is overmuch amended astatine 88%. Previews began yesterday astatine 3 p.m.

Other comps Black Adam is besting truthful acold see F9 ($7.1M, which Johnson didn’t prima in), Ant-Man ($6.4M), Shazam! ($5.9M) and No Time to Die ($5.6M). F9 opened to $70 cardinal successful May 2021, with the remainder of those comps debuting successful the $50M range.

The latest tracking for Black Adam is $60M-plus for its archetypal frame, cooling down from its $70M fig erstwhile it archetypal arrived connected tracking. The question remains however critic-proof this movie tin be. In the caller satellite bid of container bureau astatine this signifier of the pandemic, tentpoles person proved to beryllium professional proof, i.e., Jurassic World Dominion wasn’t slowed by a 29% connected Rotten Tomatoes and opened to $145M. There hasn’t been thing arsenic glossy, star-studded and tentpole-y similar Black Adam since Sony’s Bullet Train, which opened to $30M during the archetypal play of August. Audiences are starving, and hopefully for the involvement of accumulation and Warner Bros, won’t scrutinize this caller DC superhero excessively severely earlier making a determination to spell to the movies this weekend.

As is modular with Johnson, the overseas prospects for Black Adam are brighter than domestic; industry outlook for a planetary commencement this play is astir $135M.

Johnson’s 2 highest preview nights were connected films successful which helium was portion of an ensemble: Furious 7 ($15.8M) and Fate of the Furious ($10.4M).

Universal meantime held previews for its George Clooney-Julia Roberts romanticist drama Ticket to Paradise, which made $1.1M astatine 3,000 theaters disconnected showtimes that began astatine 5 p.m. The workplace is hoping for astir $12M. The movie from Working Title, Smokehouse and Red Om Films has already bagged adjacent to $73M from 75 offshore markets, wherever it was No. 1 successful 45 of those including Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.

Universal had the No. 1 movie of the week with Blumhouse/Miramax’s Halloween Ends, besides disposable connected Peacock, which did $46.1M astatine 3,901 theaters. Pic is expected to diminution severely owed to its avail connected the streamer, successful the 70% range. It made $1.02M connected Thursday, and was bushed by Paramount’s Smile which did $1.07M astatine 3,612. That genre movie successful its 3rd week did $17.2M, bully for a moving full of $76M.

Sony’s 2nd week of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile at 4,350 did $430,000 connected Thursday, $9.1M for the week and has a moving full of $24.6M.

The studio’s TriStar statement owned 4th with The Woman King at 2,565 theaters, a $240K Thursday, $4.9M 5th week and moving cume of $61M.

Iconic Releasing’s Terrifier 2 in 700 sites did $220K yesterday, a $1.9M 2nd week and moving full of $3.4M.