the star tweeted<\/a>. \u201cAt almost $400M worldwide we are building our new franchise step by step (first Captain America did $370M) for the DC future.\u201d<\/p>\nRead more<\/p>\n
He then linked to the aforementioned Deadline article, which cites \u201cfilm finance sources, meaning people who do this for a living and those close to the movie,\u201d a very<\/em> peculiar way of framing those sources. After going through the math to explain the modest profit the film would turn, the article additionally cites \u201cmerchandise\u201d as a form of back-channel profit in an attempt to sure up Black Man<\/em>‘s potential to make money instead of lose it, which is true… but doesn’t affect the dire box office numbers one bit, and isn’t really something worth counting in the conversation at all (one that also conveniently doesn’t t factor things like theaters’ cuts of ticket sales, and so on).<\/p>\nBut no matter what’s true, Variety’s reporting or Deadline’s, let’s really focus on that comparison between Black Man<\/em> and Captain America: The First Avenger<\/em> that both Deadline and Johnson highlight as somewhat nebulous proof that Black Man<\/em>‘s alleged meager profit could guarantee it a sequel.<\/em> It’s bonkers that anyone would look at these two films\u2014released 10 years apart\u2014and assume the millions in question are going to be a one-to-one comparison. yes, at the time, The First Avengers<\/em> grossed about $370 million globally, on a budget of approximately $140 million. However, adjusting for inflation, it <\/em>made around $490 million in today’s valuation. Plus, Captain America: The First Avenger <\/em>wasn’t even the highest-grossing Marvel movie in 2011\u2014Thor<\/em> beat it out with a whopping $450 million, which would be nearly $600 million today. So is Johnson saying he, a star much more powerful than Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth were when they starred in their 2011 Marvel debuts, is on the same level?<\/p>\nStory continues<\/button><\/p>\nWhat he could mean here is that despite Captain America: The First Avenger <\/em>only making $370 million, it still spawned two sequels (and counting), each of which did better by a wide margin. Captain America: The Winter Solider<\/em> made $714 million globally in 2014, and Captain America: Civil Wa<\/em>r did $1.15 billion in 2016. Like Black Man<\/em>, the original wasn’t the biggest hit, but it got people interested, and Marvel moved on anyway, reaping the rewards. In that instance, yes, there’s some connective tissue between the films. However, while Black Man<\/em> was specifically designed to start a new tangent in the DC universe, with the appearance heralding the return of Henry Cavill as Superman and numerous mentions of other Justice League and Justice Society characters, the fact that it’s not the third movie in the franchise (like The First Avengers<\/em> was) but the 11th<\/em> DC Universe movie (excluding non-connected projects like The Batman<\/em> and the Joker<\/em>) makes its lackluster performance all the more concerning.<\/p>\nIf we must play the box office numbers game Johnson and Deadline are willing to play, a more relevant comparison in terms of Johnson’s career is 2019’s Fast & Furious<\/em> spinoff movie, Hobbs & Shaw. <\/em>That movie, arguably the ninth installment in the Fast & Furious<\/em> series, stars Johnson as a co-lead, and made a whopping $770 million in theaters, against a $200 million production budget. Now, that movie opened in international markets Black Man <\/em>didn’t, and didn’t face a global pandemic, valid points brought up in the Deadline article. But that’s still a huge difference if we look at this from the perspective of Johnson’s own pull and star power.<\/p>\nIn the end, Johnson cares deeply about his film, and you have to genuinely respect that. The man takes pride in his work! But maybe boasting that your movie is going to be making just $50 million on Twitter while linking to a dubious puff piece (which, oddly, removed references to potential Black Man<\/em> follow-ups<\/a> without explanation or disclosure\u2014only to be made all the more embarrassing by a late-night report from the Hollywood Reporter yesterday about the future DC movie slate, which flatly stated a Black Man<\/em> sequel in fact looked very<\/em> unlikely, given its poor performance) seems like less of a flex and more like damage control. And doesn’t seem a little meek for maybe the strongest star in all of Hollywood?<\/p>\nBlack Man<\/em> is available to stream on Apple and Amazon. io9 has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment on Black Man<\/em>‘s financials, and will update this post when and if we hear back.<\/p>\nAdditional reporting by Germain Lussier<\/em>.<\/p>\nWant more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, <\/em>Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s <\/em>Avatar: The Way of Water. <\/em><\/p>\nMore from Gizmodo<\/p>\n
Sign up for Gizmodo’s Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, twitter<\/a> and Instagram.<\/p>\nClick here to read the full article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n