BLACK ADAM opening | TICKET TO PARADISE opening | October 21 to 23, 2022 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: October 21 to 23, 2022
1) Black Adam opening
- Black Adam is a villain character spin-off of Shazam!. The connection between the films is thin; the characters share the same universe and backstory, but Black Adam did not have a direct role in Shazam!. Black Adam is a bigger movie, with a bigger cast and twice the budget (around $200m, vs. $100m). As a spin-off, this is a strong opening — it’s more than +10% better than Shazam! (on average, spin-offs open down -55% from the previous film), at a very good level.
- As a new superhero series, this is a mid-level opening. Superheroes are elite, very well-reviewed movies; they average $80.4m domestically when starting a new series. That average includes Avengers ($207m domestic opening), Black Panther ($202m), Captain Marvel ($153m), and Suicide Squad ($134m) — some of the biggest films in the history of the business. Black Adam should do well abroad and be comfortably profitable:
- The Shazam!-Black Adam-Shazam! 2 sequence is unconventional. Normally, superhero spin-offs come on the 5th episode of a series, not the 2nd — they have a longer runway — and there are 36 months between films (this release came after 18 months, and there will be six months before Shazam! 2). Shazam! 1 was well-reviewed (90 Rotten Tomatoes), and superhero follow-up sequels do well; Shazam! 2 should maintain its success.
- All of this is a positive and steady step forward for DC Comics. Black Adam and Shazam! have very good futures on the big screen. That’s an improvement over Wonder Woman/Wonder Woman 2 and Suicide Squad/Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad 2, which were lost during the pandemic.
2) Ticket to Paradise opening
- This is a very good domestic opening for a romantic comedy, on top of excellent overseas business during the last five weeks. The weekend figure is well above average. These are two of Hollywood's biggest stars and they still have large followings overseas, where audiences are more loyal to celebrities than they are in North America — that’s where this movie is making very good money:
- With foreign business already counting close to $80m, the international-first distribution strategy was ideal for Ticket to Paradise and the film should be profitable with strong ancillary business everywhere (the cost was around $60m).