The Suicide Squad Box Office Thread

[psylockolussus]

Domestically, Birds of Prey looks like a good comp for The Suicide Squad. With no Will Smith, no Joker, and possibly waning interest in the franchise, it’d be wrong to expect the film to perform like its predecessor even in a pre-pandemic environment. Add into the equation the current box-office climate and The Suicide Squad’s same-day HBO Max availability, and you don’t have the kind of opening you’d expect for a $185 million budget film. Still, the buzz is strong with its great reviews, and it is pacing above the summer’s other big blockbusters in pre-release page views on IMDb. It has a good shot at becoming the biggest opener for a Warner Bros/HBO Max day-and-date release (Godzilla vs. Kong and Space Jam: A New Legacy both opened to $31 million), as well as Warner’s biggest opener and grosser since Joker in 2019.

The Suicide Squad opened in five markets last weekend, most notably the U.K. where it was number one with $4.7M, only around one-third of Suicide Squad’s $14.7 million opening. The U.K. was the largest territory for the film outside of the U.S., with $43.7 million. It rolls out around the globe this weekend in open markets with the exception of Japan (coming next weekend) and China. Suicide Squad did not have a China release, and it is unclear if The Suicide Squad will either.

August Arrives With James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ - Box Office Mojo

 

[Detective Conan]

I think the opening weekend will likely be between the 25-35 million range.

 

[psylockolussus]

Weekend Box Office Forecast: The Suicide Squad Targets Best 'R' Debut of Pandemic, But Faces Escalating Challenges - Boxoffice

According to that article, the movie cost about 185 million and I thought it was only 85 million so I must have misread the budget before. Anything around 30 to 40million imo wouldn't be good enough given the budget + the movie being accessible through HBO MaX without an additional fee.

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[Moncton]

This film just never had much buzz, the trailer views were very low. I think the audience got their Suicide Squad fill from the first film and were very turned off.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Weekend Box Office Forecast: The Suicide Squad Targets Best 'R' Debut of Pandemic, But Faces Escalating Challenges - Boxoffice

According to that article, the movie cost about 185 million and I thought it was only 85 million so I must have misread the budget before. Anything around 30 to 40million imo wouldn't be good enough given the budget + the movie being accessible through HBO MaX without an additional fee.

Lol there's no way a movie like this could cost $85 million. The actors salaries already take up a good portion of it.

 

[Iceman]

This film just never had much buzz, the trailer views were very low. I think the audience got their Suicide Squad fill from the first film and were very turned off.

A shame this one didn’t come first.

 

[DlAMONDZ]

I said it back when BOP flopped but WB needs to get some actual continuity going. These reboots aren't cutting it anymore. The MCU changed the game

 

[Moncton]

WB has to get better at anticipating what the mainstream audience wants, rather than thinking that just having edgy films where characters drop f-bimbs or do gory stuff is going to draw audiences in. No one asked for BOP, no one wanted another Suicide Squad. Especially when the trailers for these films were not funny at all.

 

[emielaen]

The “no one asked for this” argument is so ****ty and boring lol

Aquaman and Joker go against both arguments of needing some some heavy continuity, or giving people “what they ask for”. But even then, they’re not abandoning either. They’ll be alright lol

 

[Gothamsknight]

The “no one asked for this” argument is so ****ty and boring lol

Aquaman and Joker go against both arguments of needing some some heavy continuity, or giving people “what they ask for”. But even then, they’re not abandoning either. They’ll be alright lol

I'd even go as far to say DC's current approach is far more refreshing honestly. Don't have to worry about every movie dropping easter eggs everywhere to build up a future film or have another superhero piggy backing on a solo characters movie. Individual stories need to return and I'm glad DC is doing that.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

It's weird seeing this narrative that nobody was really looking forward to this movie pop up now considering that the fandom went nuts when Warner grabbed Gunn to direct the sequel/reboot. Some are also arguing that the original's negative critical reception is now affecting the sequel's box office but I think that the problem is that Warner waited 5 years to do another one when a sequel should have been out around 2018.

 

[Micromind]

I said it back when BOP flopped but WB needs to get some actual continuity going. These reboots aren't cutting it anymore. The MCU changed the game

To get wider audience acceptance for lesser known comic book properties, a common thread is needed.

They have to build up to some event in the shared universe but for that, they have to maintain some level of cohesiveness and continuity.

Stand alone, solo movies are unpredictable regardless of the movie's quality. Even after 9 years and 10 movies, DCEU is still not getting any benefit of shared universe where lesser known properties get audience by association to a larger universe.

This is due to lack of well thought out roadmap.

 

[Iceman]

I mentioned this in the main thread but relevant here:

I think this has a chance of becoming a cult hit even after its run is done with many of the GA who stayed away finding out they like it a lot when coming across it on streaming.

 

[Moncton]

The “no one asked for this” argument is so ****ty and boring lol

Aquaman and Joker go against both arguments of needing some some heavy continuity, or giving people “what they ask for”. But even then, they’re not abandoning either. They’ll be alright lol

Those are very different situations. They didn't need to overcome a recent Joker or Aquaman film that the audience didn't like.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

Those are very different situations. They didn't need to overcome a recent Joker or Aquaman film that the audience didn't like.

The first SS was 5 years ago. I think a bigger problem here was that the GA had forgotten about the franchise because it took so long to get another one.

 

[Moncton]

The first SS was 5 years ago. I think a bigger problem here was that the GA had forgotten about the franchise because it took so long to get another one.

That played a part, but I think the bigger issue is that the general audience got their fill of Suicide Squad, didn't like it, and didn't want to go back

 

[Comicbookguy339]

That played a part, but I think the bigger issue is that the general audience got their fill of Suicide Squad, didn't like it, and didn't want to go back

But is that true? The original had pretty good legs as far as I remember. It had a 67% second weekend drop, sure, but after that it did really well week-to-week.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Just my two cents: I’d chalk it up to two things. One, the pandemic isn’t over and casual moviegoing remains not a thing. Two, all the momentum for franchise films is gone. One big reason for the MCU’s success was that they pumped a new one out every six months or so. Then everything stopped for a year and a half. You can see that in Black Widow’s BO as well as here.

When/if either of these factors changes is anyone’s guess.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

If next year doesn't see a significant box office recovery then studios will be panicking. Let's see, for next year DC has The Batman, Black Adam, The Flash & Aquaman 2 whereas Marvel has Doctor Strange 2, Thor 4, Black Panther 2 & Captain Marvel 2. If that line-up won't get people back into theaters then what will?

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Just my two cents: I’d chalk it up to two things. One, the pandemic isn’t over and casual moviegoing remains not a thing. Two, all the momentum for franchise films is gone. One big reason for the MCU’s success was that they pumped a new one out every six months or so. Then everything stopped for a year and a half. You can see that in Black Widow’s BO as well as here.

When/if either of these factors changes is anyone’s guess.

Just to piggyback off your point, that's why I think it's a better bet for these studios to just dive deep into their streaming services to whet the audience's appetite for now and maintain momentum. No one is going out in droves to movies again any time soon. So because of that, start making spin-offs and limited series on your streaming services as tie-ins to future big screen movies once things clear up.

It's not as financially lucrative as a big screen feature, but I think it can help to keep audiences invested until it's time to show up at the theaters once we (hopefully) get out of this COVID mess.

 

[Moncton]

But is that true? The original had pretty good legs as far as I remember. It had a 67% second weekend drop, sure, but after that it did really well week-to-week.

August releases tend to have better legs for big films due to less competition. But it was very clear that a whole lot of people did not like that film

 

[KaijuDude1992]

These studios are definitely going to have to learn to cut back on these $150-$200M budgets because not every superhero movie needs to cost that much anyways.

Disney is already changing the game with their Marvel and Star Wars Disney Plus shows which look expensive but are nowehere near what most of these blockbuster, tentpole movies get.

Until things actually go back to normal which for all we know could still be years from now its probably more lucurative for them if streaming was put at the forefront instead atleast for the time being.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

These studios are definitely going to have to learn to cut back on these $150-$200M budgets because not every superhero movie needs to cost that much anyways.

Disney is already changing the game with their Marvel and Star Wars Disney Plus shows which look expensive but are nowehere near what most of these blockbuster, tentpole movies get.

Until things actually go back to normal which for all we know could still be years from now its probably more lucurative for them if streaming was put at the forefront instead atleast for the time being.

WandaVision cost 225M and Falcon & the Winter Soldier 150M. That's blockbuster money right there.

 

[samsnee]

Falcon looked expensive because of the flying effects and location shooting. But surprised WV cost so much, especially since even the finale wasn’t that FX heavy.