Dwayne Johnson on Why Black Adam 2 Was Stopped

What's the reason or the reasons for the stopping of Black Adam?

Uh, I think that Black Adam got caught in a vortex of new leadership and at that time, as we were creating Black Adam, developing it, shooting Black Adam, we got knocked down a little bit for because of COVID, and the shutdowns. Got back up.

There were so many changes in leadership.

And as you know, anytime you have a company, but especially that size and magnitude- Mm-hmm ... that's a publicly traded company- Mm-hmm ... and you have all those changes in leadership, you have people coming in who creatively, fiscally are gonna make decisions that you may not agree with philosophically. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

So I think Black Adam was one of those movies that got caught in that web- Mm-hmm ... of new leadership.

And, you know, that will always be one of the, um, one of the biggest mysteries, I think, not only for me and us on our end, but also throughout our business.

'Cause that's a Kevin question. Mm-hmm. But that has, that was a question out of Wall Street, that was a question out of Hollywood. Mm-hmm.

That was a question like, "Wait a second, you had the biggest opening of your career."

Sure, no China, that could've been maybe 100, maybe 200 more million dollars.

Mm-hmm. Um, you're establishing a new superhero.

You wanna grow out the franchise. You bring back Superman and Henry Cavill.

The world went crazy. And also, too, and you and I, you were texting me this on opening weekend, is, uh, we created a diverse superhero portfolio, where we had just men and women of color- Mm-hmm ... uh, you know, in Black Adam 2 as well.

So, um- I- ... it was just- I think I was more, I was impressed by the execution. Yeah.

I know how Black Adam, how close the movie was, the project, and that- Yeah ... that was one that was near and dear to your heart.

And cracking the code, it seemed that cracking the code on the world of superhero is something, of course, that you were very ambitious about doing, and what I thought you did.

I was like, "Oh, that's dope as fuck." Yeah. "He put his mind to it, and he did it.

I was like, "Oh, that's dope as fuck." Yeah. "He put his mind to it, and he did it.

Like, the shit's happening. They're in production. They're shooting the movie.

Fuck, it's done." Mm-hmm. "Damn, released the trailer.

Shit look good." Yeah. "DJ, congrats. Fuck. All right."

You then release the movie. Movie has success behind it.

You get some positive dollars in the goddamn box office behind it- Mm ... in a time where the box office, uh, seemed to be taking hits, dips.

So I don't know. It was just a, it was a weird thing for me in just not knowing, but to hear you say that, it makes sense.

You know, when there's a changing of the guard, sometimes the business changes as well, and rightfully so, right?

Like, we can't- Exactly ... be a part of the world of why- Yeah ... on that side.

But, um, and giving them the best opportunity to make more and do more, that's our job.

That's where we come in. Exactly.