Suicide Squad sets record for August
NEW YORK — The supervillain romp Suicide Squad shrugged off scathing reviews to open with an estimated $135.1 million in North American ticket sales, scoring one of the year’s biggest box-office debuts.
Pressure had risen on the performance of the Warner Bros. film, directed by David Ayer, following the studio’s previous poorly received DC Comics film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But Suicide Squad proved a massive draw despite its much-derided lead-in. It set a record for an August opening, easily besting Marvel’s 2014 hit Guardians of the Galaxy, which debuted with $94.3 million.
Though the Warner Bros.-DC Comics alliance was again battered by bad reviews, Suicide Squad delivered at the box office.
“We learn as we go,” said Jeff Goldstein, head of distribution for Warner Bros. “We’ve finetuned our strategy in terms of who’s in charge and how we’re approaching all our DC films. We’re modifying it in an exciting way to make all the subsequent films as great as possible.”
Not everything was roses for Suicide Squad, though, despite dominating the weekend. (The other new wide release, the feline animated release Nine Lives, debuted in sixth with a mere $6.5 million.) After fans flocked to theatres on Thursday night and Friday, audiences dropped steeply on Saturday. That could forecast further sharp declines in coming weeks for the $175-million film, which also came with a massive marketing budget.
Suicide Squad, starring Margot Robbie, Will Smith and Jared Leto, went into reshoots after the disappointment of Batman v Superman, and its marketing got a more comic, punk vibe that clicked with fans. But the film was derided as a mess by critics and others questioned the movie’s PG-13 rating considering its high degree of violence.
Audiences liked it better. Opening weekend crowds gave it a B-plus on CinemaScore.
“The elephant in the room is that the reviews were harsh,” Goldstein said. “Clearly there’s disconnect between audiences and critics.”
Warner Bros., with years of DC films in the works, has a lot riding on its comic movie rival to Marvel. Next up is Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman in June.
The top five for the weekend box office was otherwise filled with holdovers.
The Matt Damon spy sequel Jason Bourne grossed $22.7 million in its second weekend. It’s made $103.4 million in two weeks for Universal. SXT Entertainment’s Bad Moms also continued solid business with $14.2 million in its second week, bringing the cumulative gross for the comedy to $51 million.