Given the hostile crowd reaction to the original, the newly-released James Gunn Suicide Squad remake seemed set to bust the Box Office in a way that’s been scarce since the Delta Variant started turning theatergoers away again. With the opening weekend now tucked behind us, what does this mean in hard figures? Brandon Blake breaks down the numbers we know so far.
While we see Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag return from the 2016 Suicide Squad, there’s not much else in common between the two films. This iteration of Task Force X heads to the Corto Maltese, looking to destroy Project Starfish deep in a Nazi-era military base. With an engaging performance from John Cena, and the ever-popular Idris Elba as Bloodsport, it’s a fun romp in the DC universe. Surprisingly, it’s met with a decent chunk of critical acclaim, even sitting in the high 90s on Rotten Tomatoes.
As a Warner Bros’ film, it has been released both theatrically and on their streamer, HBO Max, a controversial strategy that has caused some waves in the industry. In the case of Suicide Squad, it’s already earned $7M overseas, with $4.7M stemming from the UK. And domestic figures are looking good. Although not quite as good as hoped. It should have brought in at least a conservative $30M across the opening weekend, but topped out at $26.5M. That is low for DCEU, with only Wonder Woman trailing it. Some were even expecting it to hit $40M over opening weekend.
All the same, the movie carries an R-rating and we are firmly in the era of significant cinema attendance decline, with the Delta variant’s new boom keeping people out of seats and the controversial day-and-date release strategy still making waves. Nor is it that far from Jungle Cruise, which pulled in $34.2M domestically even as a huge marquee release for Disney and with all the benefit of a family rating.
All in all, while it doesn’t take an entertainment lawyer’s expertise to see those are figures that would ‘fail’ in any normal year, in 2021 they’re nothing to sneeze at. Maybe Suicide Squad won’t quite be the chart-busting superstar it was hoped, but it’s still a pleasingly strong delivery from a critically acclaimed film that should bring theaters some much-needed return. In 2021, films take their victories where they can find them.
