Dwayne Johnson’s DC flop climbs Netflix chart
Warner Bros.Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson once claimed he’d change the hierarchy of the DC universe. While that didn’t happen, his movie has just shaken up the order of the Netflix top 10 chart.
The DCEU was a tough run of movies. Green Lantern was originally envisioned as the launchpad, but it officially kicked off with Man of Steel. While loved by many fans, its divisiveness out of the gate was a bad omen, with each release failing to live up to the standards and near-constant success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In November last year, it was officially announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be taking stewardship of DC and its cinematic endeavors for the foreseeable future, with the franchise set for a proper reboot with Superman Legacy in 2025.
This came at a fascinating crossroads, with Henry Cavill’s hero returning (and disappearing again) in a movie that promised big changes for DC.
Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam climbs Netflix top 10 chart
Black Adam, starring The Rock as the titular antihero, has reached number seven on Netflix’s top 10 movies in the US. Check out the full chart below:
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Family Switch
- Leo
- Suicide Squad
- Hunter Killer
- Lucy
- Black Adam
- The Silencing
- Christmas As Usual
- I Can Only Imagine
Directed by Jungle Cruise’s Jaume Collet-Serra, the movie traces the origin story of Black Adam, once a battered and grieving slave in Kahndaq who’s given extraordinary powers by the Council of Wizards. He’s awakened by modern-day archeologists and begins enacting his brutal form of justice on the world, colliding with the Justice Society of America and the leader of a crime syndicate.
It grossed $393 million, initially described as a commercial success by Johnson. However, many commentators believe it failed to break even against its $200 million-plus budget, with Variety estimating it would have needed $600 million to cross into the black.
The film fared similarly poorly with critics. In our review, we called it a “chance to revitalize the DCEU that boils down to a missed opportunity”, and it landed at 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Yet, Netflix subscribers all over the country have been giving the movie a chance. “Black Adam seems to be aging like fine wine compared to most of the CBMs this year. I’m willing to bet the fans would have wanted to the BA vs Superman showdown in the next film but there’s still a chance,” one user wrote.
“They put Black Adam on Netflix! I’ve watched this movie so many times and I’m going to keep rewatching,” a second tweeted.
This also comes after 2016’s Suicide Squad broke into the top five on the chart, defying its original critical and commercial performance. “I just think it’s insane how out of all the DC movies that Netflix acquired, Suicide Squad and Black Adam are the ones to come out on top. Not even The Batman,” another user commented.
You can check out our other DC coverage here.
