Due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad never had a hope in hell of coming anywhere close to the $746 million earned by David Ayer’s first installment, but with each passing day the box office prognosis for the R-rated superhero blockbuster continues to get worse and worse.
A $26 million opening weekend may have smashed all sorts of records for an R-rated wide release during the COVID-19 era, but it was still a lot less than many analysts were projecting. Unfortunately, the latest set of data paints a very somber picture for Gunn’s $185 million effort, both by current standards and in comparisons to Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
The second outing for Task Force X is predicted to suffer a massive second weekend drop after Friday-to-Friday takings plummeted by a worrying 81%, with an overall decline of 70% set to see The Suicide Squad bring in $7-8 million across its sophomore frame. However, the most galling statistic is that it might end its theatrical run with a lifetime gross that’s significantly less than the opener earned in a single day.
In the summer of 2016, Suicide Squad hauled in $64.9 million on its first Friday, before going on to destroy August records with a bow in excess of $133 million. If Gunn’s follow up continues trending downwards to the degree that it has over the last seven days, then it’ll be sitting on a shade over $42 million by the end of today.
That would make it very difficult for The Suicide Squad to show the legs necessary to earn another $20 million, especially when the film is also available to HBO Max customers as part of their monthly subscription to the platform.