Dwayne Johnson Blames Lack Of Black Adam Sequel On Studio Heads, Not Box Office Performance

It's been almost a year since "Black Adam" failed to deliver on its promise that "the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change." Or rather, it did change, just not in the way that star Dwayne Johnson had been banking on. With box office returns of $393 million, "Black Adam" fell short of the break-even point in its theatrical run. Worse, the movie was panned (read /Film's far from enthusiastic review here), making it yet another DC Universe movie that failed to launch with critics or audiences.

As a result, the planned sequel (featuring Black Adam fighting Henry Cavill's Superman) isn't seeing the light of day. Nor will it ever, given that DC films are now under the reign of James Gunn and Peter Safran, who don't have plans for Black Adam.

Johnson was a guest on Kevin Hart's "Hart to Heart" series on Peacock, reuniting the stars of "Central Intelligence" and "Jumanji." The topic turned to "Black Adam," when Hart asked Johnson why the film isn't getting a sequel despite a strong opening weekend and a supposed "appetite" for it. Johnson, describing the decision as a "mystery," answered:

"I think that 'Black Adam' got caught in a vortex of new leadership [...] It was so many changes in leadership [at Warner Bros]. Any time you have a company, a publicly-traded company, and you have all those changes in leadership, you have people coming in who creatively, fiscally, are going to make decisions that you may not agree with, philosophically."

"Black Adam" was developed under a succession of WarnerMedia/Warner Bros. Discovery CEOs. It's easy to point fingers when the current CEO, David Zaslav, has had such an infamous reign. However, Johnson's comments on "Hart to Heart" employ selective information to make the movie sound like a bigger success than it was. This is part of a pattern of the star refusing to take the L over "Black Adam."

Johnson first announced he was playing "Black Adam" back in 2007. It's got to sting when you spend 15 years of your life working on something and it doesn't pay off. Even so, the solution is not to dwell on it — but that's all Johnson has done.

The actor reportedly leaked misleading information to Deadline, claiming that "Black Adam" would make a profit in the neighborhood of $52-72 million, far higher than its actual returns. He also apparently went over Warner Bros.' heads to secure a cameo from Henry Cavill as Superman, while also vetoing a cameo from Zachary Levi as Shazam. This is believed to have contributed to the dismal performance of this year's "Shazam: Fury of the Gods."

Johnson's appearance on "Hart to Heart" is his latest effort at a "Black Adam" redemption tour. Even if he can't get the sequel he wants, he can at least exculpate himself from blame. Let's take his claims at face value, though.

He describes "Black Adam" as the biggest opening weekend of his career, making it sound like the film was unusually successful. He doesn't mention, though, the 59% drop during its second weekend. The film staying in the No. 1 spot is attributed more to lack of competition than its own strength.

Now, "Black Adam" almost cracking $400 million is a larger haul than several of Johnson's other star vehicles. However, proportions matter in Hollywood. Take the aforementioned "Central Intelligence," which made only $217 million. However, since its budget was a mere $50 million; Warner Bros. would've recouped more money on that than on "Black Adam."

"Black Adam" was a mere disappointment, not a flat-out disaster like this year's "The Flash." However, a disappointment is not a solid foundation to build a franchise, and it's doubtful that any studio head would've green lit a sequel.