Even if Warner Bros. got in their own way making “Suicide Squad,” with David Ayer‘s film being mostly beat up by critics, at least the studio’s marketing team can walk into the office on Monday morning with their heads held high. The unrelenting and probably very expensive campaign has paid off.
“Suicide Squad” had a huge opening weekend, earning a massive $135 million domestically, adding another $132 million in foreign ticket sales, and banking a total of $267 million worldwide. And hey, those are great numbers, but the film is hardly out of the woods, and it’s way too early for anyone at WB to celebrate. With the movie having to earn $750-800 million globally to break even, there is a long road ahead and it’s not an easy one.
Of course, one only has to look at “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” — which similarly had a rough reception from critics, followed by a record-breaking opening weekend — to see how this movie might perform. In its second week, ‘Dawn Of Justice’ lost 69.1% of its audience, and wrapped up its theatrical run in a very brief 12 weeks. Moreover, it already looks like “Suicide Squad” may be very front-loaded, with the movie apparently seeing a 40% tumble in Saturday ticket sales. And while “Suicide Squad” may have beat the record previously set by “Guardians Of The Galaxy” for an August opening, the Marvel movie wound up sticking around in cinemas for 25 weeks, and actually earned more than ‘Dawn Of Justice’ domestically. That’s the power of positive reviews and word of mouth, which “Suicide Squad” won’t have in its corner. So expect a short run in cinemas, and likely a smaller worldwide box office than ‘Batman v Superman’ (which firstly has much more recognizable characters, and secondly got released in China — adding $90 million or so to its bottom line — which won’t happen with “Suicide Squad”).
Elsewhere at the box office, with “Suicide Squad” having all the attention and earning more than everybody else combined, things were pretty quiet. Last week’s champion, “Jason Bourne,” saw a big second-week drop, which was bound to happen with Warner Bros.’ DC Films flick on its tail, while the Kevin Spacey talking-cat movie “Nine Lives” opened to $6.5 million, which is about as good as anybody could’ve expected.
In limited release, “Five Nights In Maine” did dismal business, earning $10,000 on ten screens, while John Waters‘ newly restored “Multiple Maniacs” did around the same in a single cinema.
1. “Suicide Squad” — $135 million
2. “Jason Bourne” — $22.7 million ($103.4 mil.)
3. “Bad Moms” — $14.2 million ($51 mil.)
4. “The Secret Life Of Pets” — $11.5 million ($319.5 mil.)
5. “Star Trek Beyond” — $10.2 million ($127.9 mil.)
6. “Nine Lives” — $6.5 million
7. “Lights Out” — $6 million ($54.7 mil.)
8. “Nerve” — $4.9 million ($26.8 mil.)
9. “Ghostbusters” — $4.8 million ($116.7 mil.)
10. “Ice Age: Collision Course” — $4.3 million ($53.5 mil.)