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UPDATED 08/09/2016
As of writing this, Suicide Squad has beaten Man of Steel at the box office.
Suicide Squad is a strange animal.
On the one hand, the movie has attracted a lot of negative reviews. On the other, reports are suggesting that the movie has had a decent run of the box office.
In this article, I ask the question: just how successful has DC’s Suicide Squad actually been so far?
Let’s take a look.
Rotten Tomatoes
When the movie was released, I took a look at some of the first reviews that came in and let’s just say they weren’t great.
That was a couple of weeks ago, so how is the movie fairing with the critics now?
On Rotten Tomatoes, it’s gotten worse. During the first reviews of the movie, RT had the movie down as 35% on the Tomatometer. That number is now just 26%. And that’s when you have the option All Critics selected. You select the top critics only, that number plummets to 19%.
Well, shit. I’ve seen the movie and I don’t think it deserves that. What about you guys?
No wonder fans were petitioning for the Rotten Tomatoes to be closed down.
IMDB
The IMDB ratings tell a completely different story.
The 167,764 user ratings the movie has attracted has earned a very respectable 6.8 rating, coming down from the initial (and slightly questionable – it hadn’t been released yet) 8.6 after 7,500 reviews.
I think this rating is a little closer to reality – or more accurately, my feelings on the movie.
IMDB is a completely different playground. There, people vote based on their enjoyment of the movie and are not trying to compare it to Casablanca and getting disappointed. I think perhaps Rotten Tomatoes has become slightly disillusioned with the superhero movie as a whole and Suicide Squad takes it to a whole new level: a supervillain movie.
Or perhaps their tastes are just a whole lot finer than my own.
I want to take this study further. I want to compare the movie to the Marvel Movie universe and see how it fares.
Care to join me for the ride?
Rotten Tomatoes
When comparing Suicide Squad to the Marvel Movie universe on Rotten Tomatoes, as you might expect, there was only one winner.
The lowest rated Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes is Thor: The Dark World, which comes in at 66%. This, however, is till a full 40% higher than Suicide Squad, which I think is entirely ridiculous.
Iron Man 2 is rating at 72%. Just let that sink in a little. IRON MAN 2.
Check out the full listings below:
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 94%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 90%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 89%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 66%
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 66%
IMDB
The IMDB results are fairly similar, but with IMDB there is no massive expanse between the lowest rated Marvel Movies.
Suicide Squad draws level with Captain America: The First Avenger and the Incredible Hulk on 6.8, but Iron Man 2 still beats all three with a rating of 7.
Unbelievable.
Check out the full list below:
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Rating: 7
IMDB Rating: 7
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Rating: 6.8
Domestic Market
Now let’s take a look at how the movie fared against the Marvel Movie universe in box office takings.
Firstly, domestic.
As of writing this, Suicide Squad has taken $262,283,335 in the domestic market and this is where things get really interesting.
Suicide Squad’s current domestic intake has already beaten Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain America: First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk.
That is phenomenal work.
I think Warner Bros owe a huge thank you to their marketing department for that one.
Check out the full list below:
Domestic: $623,357,910
Domestic: $459,005,868
Domestic: $409,013,994
Domestic: $347,215,892
Domestic: $333,176,600
Domestic: $312,433,331
Domestic: $300,812,503
Domestic: $263,427,551
Domestic: $259,766,572
Domestic: $206,362,140
Domestic: $181,030,624
Domestic: $180,202,163
Domestic: $176,654,505
Domestic: $134,806,913
Foreign Market
Suicide Squad did reasonably well in the domestic box office, but what about the foreign box office?
The answer: also reasonably well. It has amassed a massive $310,400,000 and therefore has beaten the likes of Thor, Iron Man,Captain America: First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk.
That is no easy feat.
Check out the full list below:
Foreign: $946,408,000
Foreign: $896,200,000
Foreign: $806,426,000
Foreign: $706,900,000
Foreign: $454,654,931
Foreign: $440,135,799
Foreign: $438,240,376
Foreign: $378,100,000
Foreign: $339,243,000
Foreign: $311,500,000
Foreign: $268,295,994
Foreign: $266,762,121
Foreign: $193,915,269
Foreign: $128,620,638
Worldwide?
The combination of the domestic and foreign box office receipts predictably yielded reasonable results also, managing to fend off Ant-Man, Thor, Captain America: First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk.
See the full list here:
Worldwide: $1,519,557,910
Worldwide: $1,405,413,868
Worldwide: $1,215,439,994
Worldwide: $1,054,115,892
Worldwide: $773,312,399
Worldwide:$714,421,503
Worldwide: $678,912,503 (up 1 place)
Worldwide: $644,602,516
Worldwide: $623,933,331
Worldwide: $585,174,222
Worldwide: $519,445,163
Worldwide: $449,326,618
Worldwide: $370,569,774
Worldwide: $263,427,551
And the Suicide Squad is still drawing money.
In conclusion, the answer to how is Suicide Squad doing is: so-so.
Rating’s wise, even the favorable IMDB rating system pits the movie at the bottom of the list.
The Box Office performance is much better and the movie has managed to beat a good number of top Marvel movies, some of which are (or already have) definitely getting sequels (Ant-Man springs to mind).
As I’ve previously mentioned, perhaps the Suicide Squad marketing has performed above par on this one, but I do think the critical reviews are a little off. There’s no way Iron Man 2 (or even Iron Man 3) is a better movie than this.
But that’s just my opinion – I want to hear yours.
How would you pit the movie against the Marvel Movie Universe?
Let me know via Twitter or Facebook
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