The highly anticipated release of James Gunn's half-sequel, half-reboot The Suicide Squad
has wowed audiences and critics alike, earning the movie a 91% Certified Fresh rating on
Rotten Tomatoes.
Gunn's movie delivers on its promise of intense R-rated violence and off-kilter humor, with
a cast that includes returning DC stalwarts and a whole host of new squad members.
The 2021 film finds Amanda Waller leading two teams of crazy criminals to take down
a Nazi-era laboratory called Jötunheim, which is rumored to be the home base of a secret
experiment known as "Project Starfish."
"We're all gonna die."
"I hope so."
"Oh, for God's sake."
Following the critical disaster that was 2016's Suicide Squad, there seemed to be nowhere
to go but up.
The original film was highly profitable, but maybe this time they could make a movie most
people actually liked.
The good news for film fans is, The Suicide Squad appears to have succeeded when it comes
to quality, winning over audiences and critics alike.
The bad news is, this one doesn't seem to be making any money — or at least nowhere
near as much money as the 2016 one did.
During its first weekend, the new movie made approximately $26.5 million at the domestic
box office, falling short of expectations that predicted it making at least $30 million
at the start.
So what happened?
According to box office analysts, the rise in the Delta variant of COVID-19 is likely
the most significant factor in why The Suicide Squad fell short of its projected box office
return.
While the beginning of the summer saw many businesses reopening, states relaxing their
mask guidelines, and daily life returning to some form of normalcy, all that has been
challenged recently by media coverage of the contagious COVID-19 variant.
According to data from UC Davis Health, as of July 22nd, 2021, almost 80% of the organization's
COVID patients had the Delta variant, while the CDC reported a higher percentage at the
same time.
The rise in the Delta variant has caused the CDC and many businesses to revert to previous
mask and safety guidelines, suggesting that people need to be more careful about the possible
spread of the virus through indoor activities.
This likely led many to postpone any plans to visit a movie theater, considering the
high rate of transmission often found in that environment.
While it's unclear exactly how much the Delta variant contributed to The Suicide Squad's
box office shortcomings, it was clearly an influence.
One of the other main reasons for Hollywood's lower box office returns in 2021 has been
the shift from theatrical releases to streaming.
Like every other recent Warner Bros. release, The Suicide Squad was released simultaneously
in theaters and on HBO Max.
Over the last year or so, that streaming platform has given people who are unable to go to the
theater a chance to catch the latest big releases from the comfort of their own home.
Other companies, such as Walt Disney Studios, are also using a mixed theatrical and digital
release system, though it's unclear how this will change going forward — and whether
it's financially sustainable for the studios themselves.
Because of this recent trend, as well as the ongoing shift over the past decade to more
streamable content, it's no longer possible to rely on the box office as the best way
to measure the success of a new release.
Even streaming figures are a little up in the air: for example, the analytics company
Samba TV has suggested that around 2.8 million U.S. households watched The Suicide Squad
on HBO Max on opening weekend, but it's difficult to work out how that might have translated
into ticket sales, considering a household can contain multiple people.
Nonetheless, Deadline reports that the movie at least holds the distinction of having the
top-grossing R-rated opening for a movie in the pandemic era, but that may be a cold comfort
when comparing the receipts to the movie's $185 million budget.
With so many mixed signals, it's hard to argue that The Suicide Squad is a bona fide box
office flop, even after you consider those low returns.
But it doesn't appear to have been a roaring success, either.
At the very least, the movie's a good one — we can give them a hand for that.
"Hand."
"Yes, that is your hand.
Very good."
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