Suicide Squad - The Movie 2016

"Worst Heroes Ever"

Imprisoned super-villains are given a chance for lighter sentences by taking on dangerous secret government operations from the group A.R.G.U.S. and assigned the team title of Task Force X.

"The" Suicide Squad film of 2021

About the film

Director David Ayers' Suicide Squad has legitimate problems in the film structure department (maybe it was brought on by Warner's tinkering with the film after the shooting had already wrapped?) but the film has a lot of heart to it, and Ayer's script dares you to not like these villains, which proved tough to do as the box office made the film the #13 highest grossing superhero film to date (during the time of the film release) in the domestic market [i.e., United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam] and #15 internationally.

After Batman V Superman failed to build a gross receipts tower in the billion-dollar superhero movie neighborhood, from the outside it looked like some sort of panic had set in at the Warner/DC offices, with shuffling of titles, roles and power positions. Suicide Squad was already on the incoming glide path to landing at theatres, but reshoots commenced and some claimed it was to add the Funny (ala' Guardians of the Galaxy), and others (for example, cast member Jai Courtney, Captain Boomerang) said it was to build up action sequences. The official explanation was to "fix the third act."

The film opened to some pretty harsh critical reviews, but audience response was very strong and Suicide Squad surprisingly became one of those rare films that basically bypasses the official critical consensus by rolling up blockbuster numbers despite the aesthetic wisdom of the priests of moviedom (on the otherhand, Suicide Squad didn't check in at the billion-dollar hotel either, which it was not expected to do. It ended up trailing Deadpool by about $30 million dollars, the 2016 film it was often compared to, which was another film that beat out expectations).

Harley Quinn is the star character of Suicide Squad , though Will Smith (Deadshot) is the star actor on the marquee. Harley's hair coloring sets the theme for the film advertising and for some of the movie's look, though the film is otherwise a dark and gloomy place in the art direction department like many action films of this era.

The final box-office numbers put Suicide Squad out ahead of Captain America Winter Soldier, but just behind X-Men Days of Future Past in the superhero movie sweepstakes.

Related: Harley Quinn and Birds O' Prey 2020

Suicide Squad quits theatres with $745.6 Million after 98 days

November 10, 2016

Warners pulls Suicide Squad from theatres with $745,600,054 million worldwide gross and good demand for a sequel - the $325,100,054 domestic market earnings bodes well for future interest in the franchise. The film has also hatched a large interest in Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.

Suicide Squad at $744,285,963 Worldwide

Oct 24: Suicide Squad his still pulling in money each week as Warners/DC Entertainment slide toward the release datefor the home video products Blu-ray, DVD etc on Dec 13, 2016 Suicide Squad Amazon-Exclusive - Harley Quinn Figurine - Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Combo Pack)

Suicide Squad at $572,683,335 Worldwide

Aug 21: Suicide Squad has slid into a third week as the top attended movie in America, and has piled up a very respectable blockbuster take that is quickly closing in on $600 million plus, worldwide. This must be the cause of a lot of relieved sighs over in the land of Warners/DC Entertainment. Movie critic assessments had cast the movie into shlock-bomb territory, but word of mouth and the momentum from a years worth of dynamite preview trailers has propelled the movie into one of the highest grossing summer films. (Incidentally, Suicide Squad has also moved past X-Men Apocalypse in earnings.)

Ouch

‘Suicide Squad’ is a Hit, But DC Needs to Start Making Better Movies - Variety.com

"In the case of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and now “Suicide Squad,” it can be argued that DC and Warner Bros. have pretty skillfully pulled the wool over the eyes of a lot of people...

In the case of “Suicide Squad,” Day-Glo posters and pop music-infused trailers touted a wry, fun-filled and thrillingly amoral romp, similar to the fourth-wall breaking hit “Deadpool.” What audiences got instead was a down-beat, rain-drenched “Dirty Dozen” knock-off that was a model of narrative incoherence...

...Is it any wonder? If a recent story in the Hollywood Reporter is to be believed (and sources say it is), then the production of “Suicide Squad” was a study in chaos. Ayer slammed a script together in less than two months and mid-way through production Warner executives suddenly decided that the story of a band of super villain mercenaries needed to be funnier. That, in turn, led to expensive additional photography after the film had wrapped. The result was a Frankenstein monster...."

Suicide Squad beats negative critic reviews and takes $135 million for a record weekend

Aug 8, 2016: Reviews from the professional critics have pounded away at the David Ayers directed film, the remarks cataloging complaints about understandability, the structure of the introduction which lets the audience know who-is-who, and most often voiced: how the film differs from a Marvel superhero movie. None of that has been enough to crash the opening weekend, which has gone amazingly well considering the media-press hate-fest.

More remarks from Yahoo News:

"Suicide Squad rocked the Friday box office, grossing $65.1 million for a projected $145 million-$150 million weekend, the top opening of all time for an August release and ending days of angst for Warner Bros. in the wake of withering reviews.

The David Ayer-directed supervillain film is also impressing overseas, where it has amassed $64.6 million in its first three days. And, as in North America, the $175 million tentpole is pacing ahead of the openings of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie is opening in a total of 57 markets this weekend; Friday's take was $33 million, including $6.2 million in the U.K. and $3.9 million in Mexico."

Going big overseas says Deadline Hollywood

"The UK was the big opener. With $6.2M on 1,233 screens, the Squad dominated the Top 5 with a 62% share. That tops the second week holdovers Finding Dory and Jason Bourne. The result is the biggest Friday debut ever in August and the best for a Smith film. Excluding previews, Suicide Squad topped the launches of Deadpool (+88%) and GOTG (+223%)."

Will 'Suicide Squad' break August box office record? Chicago Tribune:

“Suicide Squad” also was better received by moviegoers 34 and younger, who made up 76% of the audience and gave it an A-minus. The film scored a B-plus with moviegoers 35 and older.

It fared signficantly worse with film critics, generating more mixed or negative reviews than positive. It has earned a tepid score of 40 out of 100 at the aggregate review site Metacritic.com.

Inside story explains how Warner ruined ‘Suicide Squad’ - BGR

"...Finally, the studio favored a version that had more characters introduced early in the film and “jazzed-up graphics” beat Ayer’s “more somber” version. However, that meant that millions of dollars had to be spent on additional photography to get the movie where Warner wanted it."

"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, ahead of Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One,” which has a total of 965,411 conversations when counted this week. $5.8 million of the film’s Friday take came from 381 IMAX theaters."

Aug 8, 2016: Suicide Squad beats negative critic reviews and might clear $150 million for the weekend

May 18 2016: Article at Hollywood Reporter on the result on the post-boxoffice troubles of Batman V Superman. Also included information that Suicide Squad is still shooting retakes:

".... the studio is working to smooth out the third act of Suicide Squad, its big August movie from director David Ayer that could change the perception of its DC line. The pic’s trailers have generated massive positive interest in the all-star actioner that features DC villains, and the studio wants to make sure audiences’ expectations are not only met but exceeded.

Suicide Squad recently went under major additional photography (multiple sources say it was not to add humor) to clear up the issues...

Suicide Squad Casting:

Will Smith - Deadshot

Tom Hardy - Rick Flag

Jai Courtney - Boomerang

Margot Robbie - Harley Quinn

Jared Leto - The Joker

VIola Davis - Amanda Waller

Cara Delevinge - Enchantress

Harley Quinn - Suicide Squad

Margot Robbie on the Suicide Squad movie set - source: Tumblr

Suicide Squad Movie news

Dec 28, 2014: It has been reported that Viola Davis has been cast as Amanda Waller in DC Comics’ upcoming Suicide Squad film. Viola Davis IMDB page.

Is the Suicide Squad movie making a new template?

December 3, 2014: from How 'Suicide Squad' Stands Out From the Comic Book Movie Pack - Forbes.com

"What’s interesting about the project, aside from being likely the first such super-villain team-up film to actually “happen” is that it represents something of an inversion of the usual superhero movie pattern up to now.

....the core selling point for most superhero films over the last twenty-five years, as especially in the last fifteen years (post-X-Men) was the idea of seeing your favorite four-color heroes and villains in glorious live-action.

...You could argue a few exceptions here and there (Wesley Snipes in Blade, Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man, etc.), but as a general rule, the appeal was rooted in the iconic characters first and who was playing them an often distant second. That’s what makes Suicide Squad unique. The vast majority of general moviegoers won’t be going to see the likes of Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, or Rick Flag, but rather going to see the well-known actors playing them."

Margo Robbie will be Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad

NOV 2014: 2016 August release date for Suicide Squad, to be directed by David Ayer

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Original Page December 2014 | Updated June 24, 2021