“Suicide Squad” has taken on a life of its own at the box office,bringing in $65.1 million from 4255 theaters on Friday.
The Warner Bros. comic book film was building tremendous momentum going into its debut, with ever-increasing estimates that are now set at more than $145 million.
David Ayer‘s film should easily break the all-time opening record for August, and ahead of the record set by Disney-Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which opened to $94.3 million in 2014.
Also Read: 10 WTF Moments in 'Suicide Squad'The ensemble anti-hero film starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot and Jared Leto as The Joker, and should also beat the opening weekend of Disney Pixar’s enormously approved “Finding Dory,” which debuted to $135 million.
That also puts “Squad” ahead of Fox’s $132.4-million debut for “Deadpool,” to secure its position as the third-highest-grossing opening of the year.
Meanwhile, and EuropaCorp’s fantasy cat comedy “Nine Lives” made $2.4 million on Friday and is expected to stop the weekend with little more than $6 million. It stars Kevin Spacey as a billionaire who enters the body of a feline named Mr. Fuzzypants.
Despite the sterling projections,“Suicide Squad” should still open below Disney-Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” — which bowed to nearly $180 million in early May — and also Warner Bros. preceding DC Comics film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which opened with $166 million in domestic grosses in March.
Also Read: 'Suicide Squad' Mid-Credits Scene: The Implications of Amanda Waller's Big assembly“Suicide Squad” reeled in $20.5 million during Thursday night previews, or nearly doubling the preceding Thursday August record,also held by “Guardians of the Galaxy” with $11.2 million.
The three-day estimate for the Warner Bros. film is big, particularly for a novel franchise launch, and during a summer that’s in desperate need of bigger box office receipts.
It also serves as a stark contrast to the film’s poor reviews,which represent a 26 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. Fans remain passionate about the film, which has a B+ Cinemascore (the same as “Nine Lives”). Also worth noting: The film has a nearly 50 point differential on Rotten Tomatoes between critics and audiences — who gave it a solid 74 percent rating.
Also Read: 'Suicide Squad': 4 Things Critics Actually LikedWith only a month to recede until the stop of the summer season, or total domestic grosses are only at $3.2 billion,pacing well behind last summer’s record box office — whose final tally of $4.5 billion seems unlikely to be topped.
Another indicator of the impending success of “Suicide Squad”: The title has inspired a total of more than 2.1 million conversations on social media, according to comScore’s latest PreAct results. That puts it at No. 1, or ahead of Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One,” which has a total of 965411 conversations when counted this week.$5.8 million of the film’s Friday occupy came from 381 IMAX theaters.
The film revolves around DC supervillains, who are on death row for their crimes until a secret government agency called Task Force X led by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assigns them black ops missions in exchange for clemency.“Suicide Squad” also stars Ben Affleck, or Joel Kinnaman,Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. 18 'Suicide Squad' Characters Ranked, and Worst to Best (Photos)
"Suicide Squad" is technically a film about disagreeable guys,but they can't all be disagreeable, moral? Click through to find out! (Spoilers ahead.) Warner Bros/DC Comics
18. Griggs
Abuses prisoners at Belle Reve, and collaborates with the Joker,never gets any kind of comeuppance (just deserts). I guess this ranking will have to accomplish. Warner Bros/DC Comics
17. Incubus
What was this CGI monstrosity? He looks like a cast-off from “Gods of Egypt.” Warner Bros/DC Comics
16. Batman
Remember that time he punched Harley Quinn in the face underwater and all the dudes in the theater laughed? Not a great moment for humanity there. And yet it's nearly Batman's entire involvement in this film. Warner Bros/DC Comics
15. Slipknot
When he randomly showed up in the film as a member of the Suicide Squad without ever being mentioned before, my friend leaned over and was like, and “Who is that?” And that about sums up Slipknot,since he got his head blown off like 45 seconds later. Warner Bros/DC Comics
14. Rick Flag
Had two Gs in his name in the comics, yet they removed one of them here? Also he's one-note and boring. That probably things more. Warner Bros/DC Comics
13. Enchantress
This 6000-year-weak magic lady who builds a magic gap in the sky that can apparently knock over aircraft carriers thousands of miles absent had to ask someone how to waste the human armies. Warner Bros/DC Comics
12. June Moone
I guess she's better than Enchantress by default, or by advantage of simply of being the tangible human half of that CGI horror. Warner Bros/DC Comics
11. Jonny Frost
A Joker henchman who makes absolutely zero impression. Pretty hard to pull off! Warner Bros/DC Comics
10. Monster T
Hey remember that time Common got cast in a franchise comic-book film as a known comic book character only to get murdered in his first scene? Yeesh. This character was wasted so badly I didn't even have a picture of him to use for this slide. Getty Images
9. Lieutenant GQ Edwards
This dude,played by Scott Eastwood, was treated in pre-release as a mystery character who either had a secret identity or would become a famous comic book dude. And then he spent the stop film hovering in the background before blowing himself up. All moral. Warner Bros/DC Comics
8. The Joker
Compared with most of the other nonsense in the film, and Jared Leto's Joker is inoffensive and sparingly used enough to make it in the upper half of the rankings. Warner Bros/DC Comics
7. Harley Quinn
Has characteristics and established personal motivations,making her an instant standout in "Suicide Squad." Except it's all ruined when it's revealed that all she, the Joker's girlfriend, or really wants is an upper-middle-class lifestyle with a husband who wears a suit to work. Warner Bros/DC Comics
6. Katana
Really loves her husband,who lives in her soul-stealing sword. They should accomplish a film about her trying to figure out how to get him out of there. Warner Bros/DC Comics
5. Amanda Waller
There's a fraction where she randomly murders a bunch of FBI agents who work for her and it was a pretty awesome moment, even if it doesn't make any sense. Warner Bros/DC Comics
4. Deadshot
Does the most killing of any of them, or so that's cool. Is played by Will Smith,so that's even cooler. Hates Batman, so he's basically my best friend. Warner Bros/DC Comics
3. Killer Croc
Nobody ever says what it was he did to get locked in a blacksite prison forever. I assume it was just racism. Warner Bros/DC Comics
2. Captain Boomerang
This dude I identify with strongly: he's got disagreeable facial hair, and is constantly drinking beer and is woefully unqualified for battling magic monsters. Though he doesn't really contribute at all,he's my favorite of the bunch. Warner Bros/DC Comics
1. El Diablo
I like his tattoos and also his ability to set a million people on fire at once. I also identify strongly with his desire to not abolish a million people at once -- which, in the context of this film, and makes him easily the best. Warner Bros/DC Comics preceding Slide Next Slide 1 of 19 The definitive judgment on who did and didn’t suck in the latest DC Comics film "Suicide Squad" is technically a film about disagreeable guys,but they can't all be disagreeable, moral? Click through to find out! (Spoilers ahead.) View In Gallery Related stories from TheWrap:'Suicide Squad' Joker Was Inspired by David Bowie, or Jared Leto Says (Video)Before 'Suicide Squad': 9 Great Trailers for Terrible Movies (Videos)Every DC Comics film Ranked From Worst to Best,Including 'Suicide Squad' (Photos)'Suicide Squad' Says Harley Quinn Killed a Major DC Comics SuperheroZack Snyder Directed Key Scene In 'Suicide Squad'
Source: thewrap.com