'Black Adam' debuts with $67M, highest opening since July

Warner Bros' new film "Black Adam" blew away all competition this weekend, leading the North American box office with an estimated take of $67 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.

“Black Adam” was a $200-million bid to upset the power balance in a DC Extended Universe dominated by the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. 

The $67 million debut fell well shy of that stratosphere, even with the considerable draw of Johnson acting in his first superhero movie. 

Still, “Black Adam” managed the highest opening weekend since “Thor: Love and Thunder” debuted with $143 million in July.

A superhero origin story spun off from 2019's "Shazam," "Black Adam" stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the titular villain, a former slave endowed with miraculous powers by ancient Egyptian gods.

"As a spinoff, this is a strong opening," David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said, adding that it was a "positive and steady step forward for DC Comics," the generator of many superhero films.

Ticket to Paradise

In a distant second was another new release, Universal's "Ticket to Paradise," at $16.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. Released earlier abroad, it has already taken in $80 million outside North America.

"This is a very good domestic opening for a romantic comedy," Gross said.

It stars two of Hollywood's biggest stars, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, as a bickering, divorced couple who fly to Hawaii to try to sabotage their daughter's wedding.

With Halloween approaching, the next two films were both horror specials.

Paramount's "Smile" dropped one spot from last weekend to third, taking in $8.4 million. Sosie Bacon plays a therapist whose grasp on reality is shaken by a horrifying event.

Next was Universal's blood-soaked "Halloween Ends," which dropped sharply from last weekend's box-office-topping $41.3 million to just $8 million. Jamie Lee Curtis stars.

And in fifth was Sony's family-friendly "Lyle Lyle Crocodile," at $4.2 million.

Overall, it was a good weekend for Hollywood, with combined revenue surpassing $100 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"The Woman King" ($1.9 million)

"Terrifier 2" ($1.9 million)

"Don't Worry Darling" ($880,000)

"Amsterdam" ($818,000)

"Triangle of Sadness" ($600,000)