Suicide Squad's opening weekend box office proves that despite a rough ride in production and a skewering from critics, large numbers turned out to see it. Audiences coughed up $135 million in the US and an additional $132 million outside of North America. That's a global takehome of $267 million.
Its US takings broke the $94 million August box office record previously set by Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, and that worldwide $267 million haul has outdone the surprising success of Deadpool which netted $264.7 million in its first weekend. Not bad considering the film had a steep 41% takings drop between Friday and Saturday.
All in all, these are promising numbers for a movie plagued by early production pitfalls and some last-minute attempts to tweak its tone. It's rumored that the David Ayer-directed film cost $175 million to produce, and another hundred million or so more to market. If those numbers are even in the right ballpark, that means there's a way to go until the film starts to generate a sizeable profit but the signs are encouraging.
While it seemed like the possibility of a potential "director's cut" was on the cards - another way to boost takings - Ayer himself shot down those rumors saying that he stands behind the version showing in theaters. Regardless, it's likely that we may still see the stash of deleted scenes surface on home video, but little chance of a Batman v Superman-inspired Ultimate Edition.
Directed by David Ayer and starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Joel Kinnaman, Suicide Squad is in theaters now.
Images: Warner Bros.
