Suicide Squad tracking for huge debut – will it outperform Batman v Superman?
Much like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before it, Suicide Squad is tracking for a huge debut. According to EW, pre-release tracking is indicating a $100-125 million opening weekend. This would make the DC Comics movie the largest August debut ever, ahead of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which opened with $94.3 million in August 2014.
As pointed out by Deadline, this would also represent a record opening haul for a Will Smith-starring movie. His biggest being I Am Legend‘s $77.2M, way back in 2007.
But will it come out of the gates strong and end in a whimper, just like Batman v Superman? From the looks of it, probably not. As long as the story has more depth to it than that movie, it will likely be carried by force of personality alone: the depth of A-list talent and popularity of a number of stars, in this instance, is likely to draw the crowds for weeks to come after its initial release. Plus, it looks that bit more original and intriguing. It could ultimately come down to the quality of the movie and critical reception/word of mouth though, as most movie-goers will be a little more cautious to pay for admission after DC’s previous attempt.
For our money though, we’re banking on it surpassing Batman v Superman and going on to gross more than $1B worldwide.