Dwayne Johnson Throws Down A Gauntlet at the Avengers

Dwayne Johnson has thrown down the gauntlet. Looks like his gauntlet has something to do with the Infinity Gauntlet of Marvel Comics albeit not directly. Johnson recently made a “rumble” challenge regarding the debut of his big sci-fi/action blockbuster “Rampage” vs. the debut of the Marvel Cinematic Universe mega movie “Avengers: Infinity War.” The release dates for both films had to be shuffled around a bit with “Rampage” being forced into a weekend change due to “Avengers: Infinity War” moving its release date up one week.

“Rampage” is based on the classic giant monster arcade game that was seemingly forgotten. The game involved giant creatures — including ones obviously inspired by King Kong and Godzilla — battling the army while smashing down cities. Giant monster cinema made a mild comeback with the success of the “Godzilla” reboot and “Kong: Skull Island.” The massive success of “Jurassic World” shows giant monster mayhem can translate into equally giant box office. With the incredible success of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Johnson clearly cemented his position as one of the all-time biggest box office attractions in the world. So, “Rampage” is sure to make big money.

That said, the budget on “Rampage” will be well into the $150 range. Moving the film away from the release of “Avengers: Infinity War” allows the film to gain two weeks and two full weekends all to itself with no blockbuster competition. This way, the film gains the greatest chance of pulling in a significant amount of money.

Johnson made mention of the release change on his social media site. He thanks “Mr. Stark” for bumping the film and made a jesting challenge to the Avengers for “a rumble.” You could assume he was jokingly challenging them to see whose film pulls in the bigger box office receipts. Or, we can assume Johnson made the post as a way to both inform his followers of the release change while also gaining a significant amount of free publicity. He does have more than 100 million followers on his social media accounts.

You do not need to be an entertainment accountant to realize both films are likely to pull in upwards — or more than — $1 billion worldwide. The ticket sales for both films should make April 2018 a banner year for a motion picture industry that has suffered from sales slumps.