Dwayne Johnson reportedly sidestepped the DC movie boss to get a major character's long-awaited cameo into 'Black Adam'
"Black Adam" is Dwayne Johnson's 15-year passion project, and he reportedly used his leverage to get a top DC character into the movie.
Warner Bros.
- Dwayne Johnson went around the DC film boss to seek approval for a major character's cameo in "Black Adam."
- The new Warner Bros. studio heads said yes to the cameo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- "Black Adam," Johnson's passion project, hits theaters this weekend.
"Black Adam" hits theaters this weekend, and fans will recognize a major DC Comics character in a not-so surprising cameo.
That wasn't always the plan, though.
Star Dwayne Johnson, who plays the title character, went around DC movie boss Walter Hamada after he said no to the cameo, and sought approval from the new Warner Bros. studio heads, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, instead, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After De Luca and Abdy said yes to the character's long-awaited big-screen return, and hurried negotiations were finalized with the actor, the cameo was shot in September, THR reported.
Neither representatives for Johnson nor Warner Bros. immediately returned requests for comment.
Anyone who has been paying attention to Johnson's comments on social media and in interviews in recent weeks could determine who the character is. But for the sake of avoiding spoilers, we won't name the person here.
"Black Adam" is Johnson's 15-year passion project. He was first cast as the character, a god-like antihero with magical abilities, in 2007, but the movie has experienced development speed bumps since.
"15 hard years of fighting to make this passion project a reality," Johnson said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. "Years of studio execs saying 'is there any other DC superheroes you want to play INSTEAD of Black Adam?' My answer was always no."
It hit one more speed bump after the pandemic delayed its initial release date of December 2021 to this year.
"Black Adam" is the first franchise tentpole theatrical release in months, as movie theaters face a lack of new releases compared with before the pandemic.
Johnson's star power could be the main draw, as Black Adam isn't a well-known character. Box Office Pro chief analyst Shawn Robbins projected the movie to open anywhere from $55 million to $70 million in his initial long-range forecast in September.
"Black Adam" comes at a time when the DC movie franchise itself is at a crossroads. DC's new corporate parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, has been looking for an executive to replace Hamada and lead a "10-year plan" similar to Marvel's, to no avail so far.
Johnsons seems to have other ideas.
"I feel very confident about the direction of the DC universe," Johnson told The New York Times in an interview published Monday. "It is going to require real strategy and real leadership. And that requires us not to look at Marvel's success and say, let's follow that blueprint. That's Marvel. I'm very happy for them. We don't want to be Marvel, in my opinion. We want to be DC and we want to do it our way."