The hierarchy of the DC Universe may have changed, but its problems at the box office sure haven't.
According to Variety, Warner Bros.' Black Adam is projected to lose somewhere between $50 million to $100 million, potentially more, by the end of its theatrical run.
The Dwayne Johnson-fronted DC Comics superhero film carried a gargantuan $195 million production budget and the studio spent an extra $100 million on marketing, which set its break-even number at around $600 million to actually make a profit.
To date, Black Adam has grossed $384.6 million globally since its October 21 release - a figure eclipsed by Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in a single weekend - and is expected to finish its run with around $400 million, give or take.
However, considering that the film is already available on Digital HD, with a Blu-ray release set for January 3, it's possible that the Jaume Collet-Serra-directed picture will struggle to even reach that milestone, especially with heavy competition through the holiday weeks with the aforementioned Black Panther sequel and the upcoming Avatar: The Way of Water.
Warner Bros. disputes the numbers and insists that the film will break even, but even with premium video-on-demand and home video sales, which could add another $25 million to $35 million by the end of January, it would still be well short of turning a profit.
While we imagine Johnson will have some sort of future in James Gunn and Peter Safran's revamped DC Universe, it's hard to believe that the duo will be eager to issue a sequel to this film, although adding him to another DC film is certainly not out of the question.
A Shazam! sequel would make the most sense, of course, but Johnson was reportedly not keen on squaring off against Zachary Levi's Shazam, so it's anyone's guess where Teth-Adam goes from here.
In addition to Johnson as the titular antihero, the film also starred Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Mohammed Amer, Bodhi Sabongui, Pierce Brosnan, Djimon Hounsou, Viola Davis, Jennifer Holland, and Henry Cavill.
Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.