After being announced over a decade ago, Black Adam has finally had its theatrical release. With that, director Jaume Collet-Serra has spoken about the creative process behind making the film and the collaborative process with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson. While in the process of making last year’s Jungle Cruise with the A-lister, Collet-Serra was quickly brought on board by Johnson and his team to helm the anti-hero project before the pandemic slightly slowed down the production process. From there continued the impassioned working relationship between the actor and director in the former’s passion project. This is what the director had to say about how he was brought onto the film and his process of familiarizing himself with the character.
I mean it was towards the end of Jungle Cruise. I would hear it sort of in the background, like they would be working on what the angle was of the script and the story for a long time. So, until they were satisfied with the story they wanted to tell, they didn’t bring me in. You know what I’m saying? I mean, that’s like finally when there was a script that they were ready to share then they gave it to me and they asked me what I thought. I basically said, “I think this has a lot of potential, but do I need to read every comic book ever written about Black Adam?” It’s almost like I read the script first and then I needed to learn about [the character], and then obviously I did.
Jaume Collet-Serra
The notion of deeply immersing himself into the character certainly provides a strong passion that had the potential to match that of Johnson’s. It isn’t necessarily surprising with the high praise the star actor has given to Jaume Collet-Serra as a creative partner. In the interview with Deadline, Collet-Serra also took some time to talk about the professional chemistry he was able to develop and using that to enhance Black Adam.
There was a synergy between me and DJ (Dwayne Johnson)during Jungle Cruise. When you’re in sync, you just feel it. I got to know him as a person, which I think it gives me the tools as a director to be able to bring out some aspects into the Black Adam world. As a director, you normally meet an actor or you go to have a coffee, lunch. You agree to work together, but you’re really meeting the person during the process. At the end of the day, you cannot separate the actor from the person, so you have to use the person as a tool as well.
Jaume Collet-Serra
After watching the film, one of the major takeaways is how Dwayne Johnson feels very in control of the character he’s spent over a decade developing. While many can debate if the end-product of Black Adam was the strongest film it could have been, it likely can’t be denied Collet-Serra successfully played into the best strengths of its lead actors.
Black Adam currently is playing exclusively in movie theaters.
Source: Deadline
