Dwayne Johnson is Black Adam in Warner Bros.’ newest DC film “Black Adam.”
Warner Bros.
“Black Adam” stormed into theaters this weekend, snaring $67 million domestically. It is the first film since Disney and Marvel Studio’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” in July to tally more than $50 million during its debut.
The Warner Bros.’ film also marks star Dwayne Johnson’s largest domestic opening as a leading man.
Premium formats, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and large format cinema screens, accounted for around 33% of the film’s domestic ticket sales, the studio reported Sunday. These tickets are often more expensive than those sold for traditional screenings and indicated that audiences are looking to watch big movies on the biggest screen possible.
This is a good sign for the film industry, which saw attendance shrink during the pandemic and is currently dealing with a significant lack of new film releases. As of last Sunday, the 2022 box office had more than one-third fewer wide releases compared to 2019 levels. This has led to a more than 30% decrease in box office grosses, according to data from Comscore.
“Black Adam” is one of only four major releases coming to theaters before the end of the year. The others are all Disney films: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 11), “Strange World” (Nov. 23) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (Dec. 16).
The hope from movie theater owners is that films like “Black Adam” can continue to drive traffic to theaters beyond its opening weekend.