We Finally Know Why Black Adam's Release Date Was Delayed For A Second Time
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, moviegoers across the globe have become well acquainted with the term "delay." From million-dollar blockbusters to small independent productions, none have managed to escape the health and safety-related setbacks that have sent studio schedules into disarray for the better part of two years. Unsurprisingly, Warner Bros. and its DC Comics-based offerings weren't exempt from these unforeseen alterations, hence why its entire slate has been shuffled around time and time again. Naturally, this has made the wait for the long-gestating "Black Adam" even longer than it already was.
Reports of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson taking on the role of Black Adam date back over a decade, though only in recent years has a solo film for the anti-hero become tangible. 2017 saw the ball really get rolling on such a film (via The Hollywood Reporter), and it eventually secured a release date of December 22, 2021. It's no secret that the movie didn't debut on that day, so fans had to wait a bit to find out when they could see Black Adam in action at the cinema. The project then took on a July 29, 2022 premiere date before shifting yet again, this time to October 21, 2022.
So, with theaters once again open in full force, what has prompted the most recent move for "Black Adam"? Here's what we know.
The Black Adam crew needs time to polish up the VFX
Given that "Black Adam" is a superhero flick — one about a guy imbued with magical abilities that range from flight to super-speed at that –, visual effects are the name of the game. Big bombastic action sequences, elaborate backdrops, and more are required to do justice to this corner of the DC Universe. The thing is, creating these elements takes a lot of time, even more if you want them to look as real as possible. Therefore, Warner Bros. has pushed back "Black Adam" for the sake of getting the VFX done right.
"Now that the industry has really roared back, the pipeline for VFX is so jammed. Obviously, all these superhero movies just require so much VFX, and we're just in a situation where the majority of the VFX houses are just completely swamped with work," explained Seven Buck Productions' Hiram Garcia to TheWrap, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic put multiple productions on hold, and now that Hollywood is back up and running, there's a backlog of unfinished VFX jobs on the docket — "Black Adam" included.
While the prospect of seeing Dwayne Johnson's take on Black Adam at the movies is exciting, if waiting a bit longer means that VFX artists don't have to crunch as much to make it happen, then they should take all the time they need.