FREE GUY Surpasses Expectations With $26+ Million Debut As THE SUICIDE SQUAD Crashes And Burns In A Big Way

FREE GUY Surpasses Expectations With $26+ Million Debut As THE SUICIDE SQUAD Crashes And Burns In A Big Way

It's been another good weekend at the box office for Disney, but things are looking bleaker than expected for The Suidie Squad as it plummets down the charts faster than anyone expected. Check it out...

By JoshWilding - Aug 15, 2021 05:08 AM EST
Filed Under: The Suicide Squad
Source: Deadline

It's difficult for an original IP to make an impact at the box office, and even harder in the midst of a pandemic. Despite that, Free Guy has managed to exceed expectations at the North American box office this weekend with an estimated opening of $26.4 million. This is quite a bit higher than the $15 million - $20 million initially projected by analysts, so Disney has to be happy with these numbers.

That might explain why plans for a sequel are already being put in place, and as this first instalment only cost $120 million to produce, it's easy to imagine a follow-up turning a huge profit. 

So, it's good news for filmmaker Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, and Disney this weekend, but for Warner Bros. and James Gunn...well, the past few days have been an unmitigated disaster. The Suicide Squad dropped 81% on Friday for a $2.2 million haul, Deadline believes the DC Comics adaptation will only score $8.1 million in total (a 69% decline) for a running ten-day total of $43.2 million.

Ultimately, The Suicide Squad will probably never even match Suicide Squad's opening day haul during its entire run at the domestic box office. To make matters, worse, it's somehow slipped from #1, right down to #5 with Don't Breathe 2, Respect, and even Jungle Cruise topping it. 

Peacemaker may be on the way to HBO Max, but pandemic-related complications aside, this franchise might just be D.O.A. at this point. Revisiting it for a third movie even after the worst of COVID has passed would be a risky business decision, and these numbers prove there's little interest there. 

Luckily for Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is likely to be a guaranteed hit when it arrives in 2023.

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Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 8/15/2021, 5:36 AM
I don't believe it was the quality of the first film which caused this to happen. Yes, that will no doubt play a part in it but despite being terrible, the first still made a shit ton of money. And it was one of THE pop culture films in 2016. An amazing marketing campaign, many high profile music video tie ins and generally quite a lot of anticipation on the internet.

Keep in mind you couldn't go out that Halloween without seeing 1000s of Suicide Squad-related costumes. So I don't think we can just blame the original film, it was pretty popular that year despite people being disappointed with it. Will we see nearly as many Suicide Squad Halloween costumes this year??? I doubt it
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 8/15/2021, 5:37 AM
@Nightwing1015 - God I hope so
thelastson18
thelastson18 - 8/15/2021, 5:55 AM
@Nightwing1015 - it makes me sad how good the marketing for the first SS was with the movie being awful, and now TSS is amazing but with poor marketing
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 8/15/2021, 6:40 AM
@Nightwing1015 - There's the factor of them releasing The Suicide Squad to most for free at home, so why go to the movies. Plus it's R-rated as opposed to Free Guy's PG-13 (and only a theatrical release), so on paper it was always bound for the better box office pull, especially after the great reviews.
dragon316
dragon316 - 8/15/2021, 6:42 AM
@Nightwing1015 - now we see marvel costumes besides Harley Quinn Batman Superman now
Whaley87
Whaley87 - 8/15/2021, 7:54 AM
@dragon316 - You've not taken any notice the past decade that Marvel costumes are ridiculously popular on Halloween? Figures
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 8/15/2021, 8:54 AM
@Whaley87 - In fact Marvel costumes have become so popular that places like Target dedicated an entire shelf/display for them as opposed to mixing them with other costumes.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 8/15/2021, 5:36 AM
Surprisingly good movie, bit confused by all the ads for that 1XBET gambling site they put in though. Odd choice
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/15/2021, 6:11 AM
@UncleHarm1 - lmfao well played mate
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 8/15/2021, 6:22 AM
@McMurdo - I mean it is called Free Guy
dragon316
dragon316 - 8/15/2021, 6:44 AM
@McMurdo - text talk lmfao Can you tell me what letters in Pit stand for it’s more text talk
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 8/15/2021, 10:48 AM
@dragon316 - just stop already! Tells a lot when I'm defending Murdo from your diarrhea. You have the IQ of a lima bean
Scarilian
Scarilian - 8/15/2021, 2:38 PM
Honestly is a pretty good movie, only downside is all the Youtuber and Twitch streamer IRL cameos - got a bit distracting. Ryan Reynolds is the best part. Film does hit a lot of the same beats you would expect though.
AntiDragon613
AntiDragon613 - 8/15/2021, 3:28 PM
@dragon316 - ti;dr

(Too incoherent, didn’t read) 😘
Vigor
Vigor - 8/15/2021, 5:36 AM
Sheesh. Still shocked by suicide squad
XKnight
XKnight - 8/15/2021, 10:04 AM
@Vigor - Josh is using an outdated article. Had he waited 1 more hour he would’ve posted that:

1. Free Guy earned $28.4 million even higher than expected.

2. The Suicide Squad earned $7.8 million lower than expected.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/15/2021, 5:43 AM
Yikes. A damn shame. I think there’s a number of reasons SS is underwhelming monetarily though.
Kozmik
Kozmik - 8/15/2021, 11:21 AM
@BlackBeltJones - One HUGE reason 'The Suicide Squad' failed is that it cost $185m. Another is that Warner Bros. allowed it to be rated R. And the last nail in the coffin was that they somehow thought James Gunn can make a successful movie outside the Marvel Studios ecosystem.
thelastson18
thelastson18 - 8/15/2021, 5:50 AM
It’s a shame TSS is doing so poorly since the movie itself is awesome. That said, with the stellar reviews it has and the Peacemaker series on the way, Warner Bros. has to be considering some sort of continuation in the future…right?

Free Guy was a fun watch, no idea what they’d do with a sequel but I’m happy for Ryan and the crew! The Green Knight is still movie of the year for me, personally.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/15/2021, 5:55 AM
@thelastson18 - Green Knight is the best film I’ve seen this year. Such a visually rich and contemplative film. Patel was amazing.
thelastson18
thelastson18 - 8/15/2021, 5:58 AM
@BlackBeltJones - Right?? I need to see it again, it was such an experience and a visual treat. Some guy behind me at the theater loudly proclaimed his disappointment when the credits rolled and I was like “did we watch the same movie?” But seeing the divide between audience and critics scores on Rotten Tomatoes is very telling. Patel needs an Oscar NOW
SnideCut
SnideCut - 8/15/2021, 6:02 AM
@BlackBeltJones - I loved the cinematography and style but I have to say that I felt they unnecessarily made a very simple story feel a tad pretentious.
abd00bie
abd00bie - 8/15/2021, 5:55 AM
"Luckily for Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is likely to be a guaranteed hit when it arrives in 2023." How do you know the Delta variant won't kill us all lmao
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