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‘Suicide Squad’ A Flop? Why That’s Almost Impossible

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 13:25 PST, Jul 17, 2016

About a month from now, Suicide Squad will be opening in American theaters. It’s crazy that one of the most-anticipated comic book movies of the year happens to be a film about villains. Somewhere Sony is crying in a corner.

But I digress.

The buzz surrounding Suicide Squad continues, and it does look set to get the reception many expected to be reserved for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. So why is it that Suicide Squad probably won’t be ruled a flop even if it makes less than the Justice League prequel?

The journey of these villainous DC characters to the big screen seems to echo the actual movie plot: They’re not DC heroes but are, instead, ready-made fall guys. Certainly not the most obvious choices for carrying a big budget film. If things go wrong, no doubt the nature of the movie would provide Warner Bros. with “built-in deniability” for its failure.

Suicide Squad could be dubbed too racy, not mainstream enough, or criticized for using too many characters moviegoers didn’t recognize. Harley Quinn may be somewhat well known, but few people, aside from hardcore comic book fans, would have any idea who Captain Boomerang is. Heck, it’s a name you can barely say with a straight face.

Should the movie fail, Warner Bros. Pictures could at least credit themselves with doing something way different from Marvel — while poor Suicide Squad was “thrown under the bus.”

It would be the type of movie no one expects to win, even if the concept were a somewhat daring one as comic book movies go.

Still, Suicide Squad had an ace (or is it a Joker card?) up its sleeve. Its trailers came across as more fun, action-packed, and irreverent than the self-serious, self-congratulatory lump of “meh” that was Batman V Superman. People looked at the trailers for Suicide Squad and went, “That’s the movie we wanted with Dawn of Justice!” The backlash was such that we now have cringe-worthy declarations from Zack Snyder that Justice League will be loads of “fun.”

The especially good news for Suicide Squad is that the lukewarm reception for Batman V Superman allows it to be the movie that sets the tone going forward. If Suicide Squad is a massive hit and critical darling, expect it to be cleared for multiple sequels. You can also anticipate future DC movies to begin to meld to its winning formula — rather than the hard-to-see-because-it’s-too-dark Instagram filters we’ve suffered through up until now.

Lastly, there’s really no pressure on Suicide Squad to make over a billion dollars. The Hollywood Reporter says that Suicide Squad is expected to make somewhere between $125 and $135 million during its first weekend. The film — which hits a similar nerve to the R-rated Deadpool — is expected to break August records. This kind of news doesn’t seem to suggest any expectations of a flop.

If Suicide Squad manages to pull in a few hundred million domestically and a couple hundred million more internationally, then it would land in about the range many expect. If it exceeds that, then it will be an over-performing hit just like Deadpool. Perhaps the two movies, despite being from rival studios, will together create a new subgenre comic book films for those who want something less “straight-laced” than the Disney-backed stuff we’ve seen thus far.

Suicide Squad boasts loads of potential and is likely to be one of the brightest stars of the summer movie season. There’s no telling where it can go from here, and I for one am excited to find out.

Are you looking forward to Suicide Squad? Think it will outperform Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice? Share your own thoughts on this unique film below.

[Image via Warner Bros. Pictures]

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