So far 2016 has witnessed the release of five comic book based movies: Deadpool, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. And 5 August observed the launch of one of the most anticipated and the sixth comic book based movie of the year, Suicide Squad.
Since the premier of the movie on 1 August in New York City, the film has been criticised and slaughtered by the critics left, right and centre, even though there were many who found the film good enough as well. However, these reviews failed to stop the badass antihero ensemble from dominating the box office. The film has gone out to earn over $135.1 million in its domestic market (North America) making it the ninth highest opening collection for a superhero film.
The movie had a larger opening than the last Superman and Spider-Man films and February’s blockbuster hit “Deadpool,” which opened to $132.4 million. However, it failed to out do Spider-Man 3 in its opening collection as it grossed $151.1 million back in 2007.
This would be the fourth Warner Bros. movie entering in the top 10 superhero genre films when it comes to their opening weekend collection; first three being Batman v Superman ($166 million), The Dark Knight Rises ($160.8 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million).
The worst of the worst heroes didn’t just dominate the North American box office this weekend, they also captured the International market as it took in another $132 million in 57 markets, bringing the film’s five-day worldwide total to $267.1 million.
That’s a record overseas opening for August, and nearly double of what Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy earned in its 2014 debut. The United Kingdom led the foreign markets with $13.9 million.
We can expect Suicide Squad to break more records, however it might become a bit challenging as the sales can be seen dipping gradually. Also, due to the film’s dark material, it might not get released in Chinese theaters, citing sources close to the situation and the film’s current lack of a release date in that market.
Directed and written by David Ayer, if we go by the production cost which was estimated to be $175 million, Suicide Squad has so far managed to cross that however, with millions more spent on marketing and distribution, it’s yet to be a profitable movie.