Sometimes negative reviews don't have a heavy impact on the success (read: money) of a film. Suicide Squad finally premiered in theaters this weekend and it was greeted with a slew of negative reviews. That doesn't seem to have the slowed the blockbuster down too much because Suicide Squad has broken August records at the box office and claimed its spot as the number one movie of the weekend. Finally, something positive to talk about regarding Suicide Squad!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Suicide Squad is projected to have made $145-$150 million this weekend, making it the top opening of all time for an August release. Suicide Squad steals the belt from the previous champion, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, which debuted in 2014 with $94.3 million. Coincidentally, both movies share a similar premise of non-heroic figures coming together to avert a huge catastrophe. On Friday, Suicide Squad made an impressive total of $65.1 million, already cementing its seat in the number one spot. The film even managed to beat out another superhero titan, Deadpool, which opened to $134.2 million. Considering Suicide Squad's PG-13 rating and critical backlash, that's no small feat.
However, Suicide Squad isn't out of the woods just yet. The movie will have to prove that it has legs to be called a real success. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received similarly negative reviews but still had an impressive debut at the box office. However, the film quickly dropped in its second week and wasn't able to reach Warner Bros' expectations. Suicide Squad currently holds a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, which could be a real challenge for the film. Of course, the movie isn't as long or nearly as dour as BVS, so it might not fall into similar traps.
In more good news, Suicide Squad has a B+ rating on Cinemascore, which admittedly isn't great, but it's higher than the B score of BVS. Surprisingly, Suicide Squad had a big audience turnout from females, who made up 49% of Friday's audience. The film was also popular with young audience members; 28 percent of the audience consisted of viewers 18 and younger. Doubly surprising, these groups liked the film better and gave it an A or A- ranking. It's all pretty interesting, considering that one of the strongest pieces of criticism to the film has been directed towards its lackluster portrayal of female characters.
No matter what happens, at least Suicide Squad isn't the worst movie of the weekend. Nine Lives - the Kevin Spacey flick about a neglectful dad who is turned into a cat - debuted to just $6-$7 million, earning sixth place this weekend. Say what you want about Suicide Squad, but at least it didn't have to make up good reviews under the guise of harmless cat puns.
Suicide Squad is written and directed by David Ayer and stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, and Jared Leto as the Joker. The film is currently out in theaters right now.
