The movie could claim one victory: it scored the top North
American opening of the pandemic-era for an R-rated title.
Overseas — where COVID-19 is likewise on the rise in a
number of territories — The Suicide Squad collected a muted $35 million from 71
markets for a foreign tally of $45.7 million and global take of $72.2 million.
James Gunn directed the standalone sequel about DC’s team of
antiheroes featuring a cast led by Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel
Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney and Peter Capaldi.
Heading into the weekend, Warners was predicting a $30
million start in North American theaters. The film was made available
simultaneously on HBO Max, a practice that many box office pundits say hurts
theatrical releases.
The studio so far has not disclosed streaming viewership
numbers for its 2021 slate of films, including the DC Cinematic Universe
tentpole. However, HBO Max chief Andy Forssell revealed Sunday that Suicide
Squad boasted the second-most viewed opening of any film premiering
day-and-date on HBO Max. Sources say Mortal Kombat is No. 1, although no one is
certain of the viewership tally.
“As the country faces new challenges due to the COVID variant,
we’re happy to continue to offer fans the option of viewing movies in their
homes,” the executive said. “Many chose to do just that as Suicide Squad
emerged as the second most viewed film over an opening weekend on HBO Max since
we began day-and-date releases with theaters.”
A month ago, Disney and Marvel’s Black Widow opened to a
pandemic-era best $80 million on the big screen. F9, which debuted in late
June, is runner-up at $70 million.
However, as concerns over the Delta variant made headlines
throughout August, the impact was felt at the box office as moviegoing comfort
level fell. Over the July 30-August 2 weekend, Disney’s tentpole Jungle Cruise
opened to $35 million domestically, a poor number in normal times (it did,
however, outperform expectations).
“This weekend’s performance of The Suicide Squad shows yet
again the unpredictability of a theatrical marketplace whose success rises and
falls based on an ever-evolving set of disparate factors including not only the
usual film-centric metrics, but also the impact of concerning pandemic news on
consumer behavior,” says Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian. “Of course, the
day-and_date release of any film has implications, but in today’s environment
it’s too simplistic to analyze a movie’s performance based on that variable
alone since there are so many moving parts.”
A home release on HBO Max certainly complicates matters for
Suicide Squad‘s theatrical potential, as does a Disney+ Premier Access option
for Jungle Cruise. The latter, however, cost an extra $30 to watch on Premier
Access, while Suicide Squad is offered at no extra charge to all HBO Max
subscribers.
Both Warner Bros. and Disney maintain that they need to
hedge their bets during the pandemic (they also want to grow their streaming
services).
Critics adored Gunn’s Suicide Squad, which sports an
impressive 92 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were
slightly less enthused, giving it a B+.
Males fueled the film, while also flocking to watch it in
Imax and other premium large format screens. Combined, those screens turned
more than 30 percent of the gross.
The Suicide Squad performed best on the West Coast.
The movie hopes to reinvigorate the franchise following
2016’s Suicide Squad, which was directed by David Ayer and debuted to $175
million domestically. It is the 16th title in the DC Cinematic Universe and
opened even lower than Birds of Prey, which also stars Robbie ($33 million) and
launched in early 2020.
The Suicide Squad follows a group of convicts as they
demolish a Nazi-era laboratory. Along the way, they encounter a giant alien
named Starro.
Jungle Cruise earned $15.7 million in its second weekend, a
relatively low drop of 55 percent (most even pics have fallen off steeply
during the pandemic in their sophomore outings.) The live-action tentpole stars
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.
Disney did not update Premier Access numbers for Jungle
Cruise, which collected $30 million from Disney+ on its opening weekend.
Jungle Cruise has now earned $65.3 million domestically. At
the overseas box office, it grossed another $15.1 million for a foreign tally
of $56.5 million and $121.8 million globally.
Universal and M. Night Shyamalan’s Old placed No. 3
domestically in its third weekend with $4.1 million for a North American total
of $38.5 million and $65.2 million domestically.
Black Widow held in at No. 4 in its fifth weekend with $4
million for a domestic cume of $174.4 million and $185.4 million overseas.
Globally, its box office cume is $359.8 million.
Focus Features and Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater, starring Matt
Damon, rounded out the top five in North America with $2.9 million for a 10-day
total of $10 million.