Warner Bros. invested nearly $300 million in the film, which has grossed $26 at its premiere.
The fear of the delta variant of the coronavirus and the simultaneous premiere on digital platforms, possible causes of the low figures
The new movie Suicide Squad has grossed a measly $ 26.5 million in theaters in the US and Canada during its opening weekend. This figure has ignited the alarms of the lack of public in the room before the expansion of the delta variant.
The DC Comics movie was one of Warner Bros' bets for the summer, but the aggressive promotional campaign and rave reviews haven't been enough to match recent releases like $ 80 million in Black Widow, Fast and Furious 9. whose figure amounts to 70 million dollars, or the latest Space Jam: New Legends and Jungle Cruise with 30 million dollars.
A hard blow for Warner Bros.
Theaters in North America report a progressively low audience movement just two months after their expected reopening, which promised to return them to full performance. "I think moviegoers are coming back on opening night and the weekend. But we are not seeing casual viewers, those who were interested and would have gone in times of pandemic. Right now, they are not there." analyzes in the Los Angeles Times newspaper the director of distribution of Warner Bros., Jeff Goldstein.
The poor collection of The Suicide Squad is a blow for the production company, which invested about 200 million dollars in its filming and another 100 million in promotion.
In 2016 the previous Suicide Squad movie totaled $ 133.7 million in its US and Canadian release to close with $ 745 million worldwide. And that despite the dire criticism it received.
The threat of video on demand platforms
Other analysts affirm that the fear of the delta variant of the coronavirus is joined by the fact that most of the movies on the bill are also available on television platforms such as HBO Max, an issue that is generating tensions in Hollywood.
The rest of the offer on the billboard also registered poor results, with the exception of Jungle Cruise, which in its second week remained as the second option with 15.6 million dollars after a premiere of more than 30 million dollars.
Old, starring the Mexican Gael García Bernal, repeated the third position with 4.1 million after debuting in first place three weeks ago.
The fourth place went to Black Widow, which four weeks ago marked the best premiere in the United States since 2019 with 80 million dollars, and during its fifth week it added 4 million in full legal dispute between its protagonist, Scarlett Johansson, and Disney . Finally, Stillwater was ranked number five with and $ 2.8 million raised.
