Dwayne Johnson is one of Hollywood’s most bankable actors. Over the years, his films have garnered a combined gross of more than $10.5 billion at the box office. However, the charismatic actor’s latest flick, the superhero film Black Adam, which he'd working on for 15 years, didn't quite perform as expected. Even worse is that his efforts and the plans for his character, including a crossover with Henry Cavill’s Superman character, were left in tatters when Warner Bros. Discovery appointed James Gunn and Peter Safran, who decided to let go of Cavill, as the heads of DC Studios.
During the red carpet at Sunday’s Oscar awards ceremony, Johnson revealed to Marc Malkin, Variety’s senior culture and events editor, that he and several others put their "best foot forward" while making Black Adam. Johnson stated that they'd surrounded themselves with the best crowd and did their best to deliver an excellent film. The wrestler-turned-actor didn't shy away from the negative critical reviews of the film but pointed out that the audience score was in the 90s.
Johnson likened Gunn and Safran’s sack of Cavill to a football team stating, "It’s almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, ‘Not my coach, not my quarterback. I’m going to go with somebody new."
Following Black Adam’s debut and Cavill’s cameo appearance, the Enola Holmes actor took to social media to announce his return as the Man of Steel. However, a few months later, he released a statement that he would no longer be donning Superman’s cape following Gunn and Safran’s decision to take the character in a different direction.
Given the fact that it took Johnson six years to get Warner Bros. executives to sign off on Cavill's return, it's normal for him to feel disappointed by Gunn and Safran’s decision. Nevertheless, he's taken it in stride and announced that his production company, Seven Bucks, will continue to work with DC and find ways his Black Adam character can be of use to the universe.
Johnson will next star in Red One, an Amazon Studios action-adventure film, that will also feature Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J. K. Simmons, Kristofer Hivju, Kiernan Shipka, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis. Red One is currently in post-production after wrapping up filming in February. The film is scheduled for release later this year.
While it would seem like Cavill is light on work given his exit from Superman as well as The Witcher, this isn't the case. The British actor is currently filming the Guy Ritchie action spy flick titled The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. He has one final appearance to make as Geralt of Rivia in the third season of The Witcher expected to premiere in summer 2023 and will star as the protagonist in the upcoming Apple TV+ spy film, Argylle, directed by Matthew Vaughn, which is currently in post-production.
The avid gamer and one-time World’s Sexiest Man is also set to produce and star in Amazon’s Warhammer 40K series after the tech behemoth acquired the rights for a live-action adaptation of the game series.
