DWAYNE Johnson, known for his professional wrestling character “The Rock”, claimed he saved Henry Cavill as “Superman.”
In a video posted on his Twitter account, the Black Adam star revealed that Warner Brothers Pictures did not want Caville back to reprise his role as the Man Of Steel and he “fought hard” for Cavill.
How can Johnson sway one of tinseltown’s most established studios to reconsider?
In 2019 Time Magazine named him as one of the most influential people in the world. This could explain why the powers that be from Warner would grant his request for Cavill’s involvement.
But his appearance in the multi-million dollar DC comics live action movie adaptation of Black Adam was essential for Johnson, which forced the hand of Warner who is expecting this new collaboration to deliver a successful franchise for the movie studio.
DC fans were elated when Henry Cavill’s Superman appeared after the mid credits of Black Adam which gave hint that there will be a sequel, where Superman and the title character go head to head.
Black Adam got panned by critics in Rotten Tomatoes, a website dedicated to compiling movie previews and reviews. It got a 39 percent aggregate score which adds to the growing list of DC adapted movies receiving poor feedback. They have been on an uneven streak compared to the much more successful Marvel franchise.
Just when Warner and DC were getting good enough fanbase support and critical acclaim for the successful Zach Snyder Director’s cut release of The Justice League on the HBO streaming platform last year, they somehow followed that up with the underwhelming performance of Black Adam.
This is based on the box office numbers so far, where it made $400 million world wide but cost of production has inflated that number. Its saving grace is its projected strong VID (Video In Demand) numbers which could overcome the deficit.
According to The New Yorker: “There’s something morally deadening and aesthetically depressing about the bottomless toy chest of C.G.I. being reduced to the toolbox of cinematic bureaucracy.”
Even the Rock’s starpower seems to be not enough to carry this new franchise as the Observer UK surmise: “Cheaper, trashier, perhaps even dumber films have been saved by the presence of Dwayne Johnson. So why is DC’s latest so doggedly immune to the redemptive power of the Rock?”.
There have been a few positive notes. FilmWeek was optimistic: “This movie is just sort of a lark, and more interesting as [a sign of] where the genre is going.”.
It is admirable though for Johnson to stand up for Cavill who was also in the middle of fan upheaval when he left the popular Netflix series, The Witcher and was replaced by Liam Hemsworth to the disapproval of its loyal fanbase.
Fans of Johnson and Cavill won’t have to worry though as plans for a sequel are in the works. Johnson revealed last October that a duel between Black Adam and Superman are likely to happen and a crossover story with Shazam to follow.
Henry Cavill is rumored to be considered for a Van Helsing project and Dwayne Johnson has a Christmas movie The Red One coming soon.
Dwayne Johnson got paid $22.5 million to play Black Adam. He gets a huge premium for each million dollars made by some of his movies. He has a net worth of 270 million dollars and is the highest paid actor in Hollywood according to Forbes magazine.
Fans are just happy to see two of the most loved actors have got each other’s back.
Of course this wouldn’t have been possible if the Rock did not stay firm and Cavill caved in, pun intended.
