The Suicide Squad is officially out in theaters and on HBO Max, and already James Gunn's antihero bloodbath is blowing up the box office.
During the film's Thursday night preview, DC's ensemble romp earned $4.1 million from showtimes that began at 7 p.m. Not too shabby, eh? What if I told you this is also the biggest earning for an R-rated movie during the Covid pandemic? Okay, so maybe there haven't been too many R-rated movies released in theaters since the Covid era began, but I remain impressed. In fact, if we place The Suicide Squad alongside notable R-rated earners, you'll find that Funimation's Demonslayer banked $3.8M, with The Forever Purge snagging $1.3M. The Suicide Squad even had a better Thursday opening than DC's Birds of Prey, which took flight with its pre-pandemic preview with $4M earned.
Analysts predict that The Suicide Squad will make at least $30 million during its domestic opening weekend. That's a lot of scratch to help pay for a gang of ne'er do wells to sign up for a sequel once the smoke clears.
Directed and written by James Gunn (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy), The Suicide Squad shows what happens when supervillains Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. As their mission unfolds, the group finds themselves on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Their targets may be packing a lot of heat, but Task Force X has King Shark, so, yeah.
If I had to venture a guess, I would say that The Suicide Squad will earn upward of $40 million before the weekend is through. When you add HBO Max subscription fees to that total, I would not be surprised if Gunn is contracted for a sequel before long. Now if only I can get Marvel to give him the reins for a Nextwave movie.