UPDATE: Jaume Collet-Serra confirmed as Black Adam director by producer Hiram Garcia. 

DC’s Black Adam movie starring Dwayne Johnson eyes The Shallows director Jaume Collet-Serra. Warner Bros. and DC Films are steadily moving ahead with their Worlds of DC franchise, recovering from the stutter steps in its early days of divisive movies like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. However, with Aquaman topping $1 billion at the box office and some Shazam! reviews naming it the best DC movie of recent years, the franchise is no doubt recovering.

Further proof of Warner Bros. and DC Films solidifying their vision for the franchise’s future is their upcoming slate of films. From the alternative universe Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and the Birds Of Prey spinoff to sequels Wonder Woman 1984 and Aquaman 2, the studio has plenty of exciting projects in the works. However, given all the various properties Warner Bros. and DC put into development over the last few years, there are still many that haven’t moved forward in quite some time. One of these is the Black Adam movie, which already has Dwayne Johnson attached to star. Now, the movie takes a significant step forward.

Both Variety and Observer report that Warner Bros. and DC Films are eying The Shallows director Jaume Collet-Serra to shepherd the Johnson-led comic book movie. Previously, Collet-Serra was the frontrunner to direct the Suicide Squad sequel before passing on the project to work on Disney’s The Jungle Cruise, which Johnson also stars in. Warner Bros. has since tapped Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn for The Suicide Squad. But it seems Collet-Serra may work on a DC movie after all. Variety further reports that the Black Adam movie is a priority for the studio after the success of Shazam! earlier this year.

Johnson’s Black Adam was originally slated to debut in Shazam! but was eventually separated out for his own solo movie. In 2017, there were rumors Black Adam would appear in Suicide Squad 2, but that was back when Gavin O’Connor was writing and directing the sequel. As for the Black Adam movie, writer Adam Sztykiel was tapped in October 2017 to pen the script, but with no director and Johnson’s busy filming schedule, it was unclear when the movie would go before cameras. Should Collet-Serra officially join the project, Black Adam may film next year as Johnson most recently teased, and hit theaters in the coming years.

Considering his work with Johnson on Jungle Cruise and his history of almost working with Warner Bros. and DC Films on another superhero project, Collet-Serra seems a good choice for Black Adam. Further, Black Adam will give Collet-Serra a chance to work with Johnson and Sztykiel to develop the character for his first big screen appearance in this universe, rather than a sequel to another director’s already established vision as Suicide Squad 2 would’ve been. Hopefully, Collet-Serra, Johnson and the whole team behind Black Adam will be able to give this franchise another hit.

Next: Black Adam Isn’t In Shazam - But It Still Sets Up Dwayne Johnson’s Solo Movie

Source: Variety, Observer, Hiram Garcia

  • Joker Release Date: 2019-10-04 Birds of Prey Release Date: 2020-02-07 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 The Batman Release Date: 2022-03-04 Suicide Squad 2 Release Date: 2021-08-06 Super Pets Release Date: 2022-07-29 Aquaman 2 Release Date: 2023-12-25