The fans still remember how Dwayne Johnson entered the superhero universe of DC with massive hierarchy-changing promises. With his introduction as the antihero Black Adam, the ex-WWE fame promised to revive the dying franchise. Ultimately, it led nowhere as the movie failed in every way possible. According to some latest statements of The Rock, the China ban was one of the main reasons behind Black Adam’s failure.
Recently when The Red Notice star was seen in an interview with his dear friend and Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson spoke in detail about the failure of his DC movie. While the change of leadership had primary importance in his statement, the China ban due to the acts of Pierce Brosnan was also mentioned.
Did Dwayne Johnson blame the China ban for Black Adam’s failure?
It is no lie that China is a major market for Hollywood movies. Every significant Hollywood movie targets the Chinese market to contribute a massive figure to the total collection. But lately, we have seen several prominent movies face bans in China due to their merciless censorship laws. Black Adam also falls under this list with other projects like Black Panther 2, Shang-Chi, and Eternals.
When Dwayne Johnson spoke with the comedian in his Hart to Heart show, he admitted the Chinese ban to be a major reason for facing a loss of at least ‘$100-200 million’.
“Sure, no China, which could’ve been maybe 100 or 200 million more dollars.”
For the unversed, the involvement of Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate was the reason behind Black Adam’s ban in the country. It was in 2020 when the James Bond star posted a photo with Dalai Lama who is considered a threat by the Chinese Government.
Besides that reason, the Rock also added how the movie was caught amidst the vortex of changing leaderships that didn’t lead his movie to be a successful venture- “I think that Black Adam got caught in a vortex of new leadership.”
Is it the end for Dwayne Johnson in DC?
The re-appearance of Henry Cavill as Superman after so long was one of the major points that were used by Dwayne Johnson and the team to promote the film. But it was of no use as the change in the leadership led Cavill to say goodbye to DC. As James Gunn and Peter Safran formed the new DC Universe, one of their first moves was to remove Henry Cavill calling him a misfit in the new plans.
Soon, it was also announced that Dwayne Johnson’s antihero was not a part of the initial DCU plans. But the Rampage actor hinted that he would talk with the heads to find a way of staying in the universe. However, his appearance in another major franchise Fast & Franchise’s latest Fast X shows that his fate in DC is nothing very different from Cavill’s.
On the other hand, his upcoming pipeline is also interesting as he not only flaunts the upcoming Fast movies but also sequels to The Red Notice, a live-action Moana remake, and Red One. It’s clear that neither Dwayne Johnson will get much time soon to work on a DC movie nor the studio would have enough space for the antihero so soon.
Black Adam can be streamed on Max.
Source: Hart to Heart
