Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shows off his strength once again at the box office. ‘Black Adam’ surpassed box office expectations summoning up $67 million. The character Black Adam, usually a villain, first appeared in Fawcett Comics’ The Marvel Family in 1945. DC Comics acquired Fawcett in 1972.
In the film, Black Adam is joined by the Justice Society of America, a DC Comics creation dating back to All Star Comics #3 published in 1940. The JSA includes Dr. Fate and Hawkman, played in the film by Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge respectively.
At $67 million ‘Black Adam’ alone made more money than the entire Weekend Box Office Top 5 of the previous week.
Placing behind the superhero fantasy is the welcome romantic comedy ‘Ticket to Paradise’ starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney. The light-hearted romp flew away with $16.3 million. Add that to the $80 million it has already made overseas putting it well on its way to making a profit on its $60 million budget.
‘Smile’ over ‘Halloween Ends’.
Showing in third is the hit horror flick ‘Smile’ starring Sosie Bacon. Scaring up $8.4 million the fright fest is comfortably in the black with a total domestic gross of over $61 million from a $17 million budget. Horror really is a favorite genre of audiences. Or is it?
‘Halloween Ends’ starring Jamie Lee Curtis practically lived up to its name taking an 80% drop in its second weekend. After debuting to over $40 million the film, which is a day and date release to streaming, barely managed to frighten up $8 million. Releasing films direct to streaming truly isn’t a profitable business plan.
Add an animated musical to the fantasy, romance and horror that enticed audiences into theaters.
‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’, a family friendly children’s film starring Constance Wu, bit into a tune of $4.2 million in its third week. With not much competition hitting screens next weekend, only the horror film ‘Prey for the Devil’ and the awards hopeful ‘Armageddon Time’ may play well, ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ has a chance of sticking around. Especially if ‘Halloween Ends’ continues its downfall.
The box office will really get goosed before Thanksgiving when Marvel’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ releases November 11.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (October 21 – 23, 2022)
- ‘Black Adam’ – $67 million – fantasy (debut)
- ‘Ticket to Paradise’ – $16.3 million – romance (debut)
- ‘Smile’ – $8.4 million – horror (drop $4.2 million, 33% down)
- ‘Halloween Ends’ – $8 million – horror (drop $32.1 million, 80% down)
- ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ – $4.2 million – children’s film (drop $3.2 million, 43% down)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $103.9 million. This is an increase of $37.3 million for a 56% gain over last weekend’s total of $66.6 million.
