On the heels of "Suicide Squad" terrible reviews, rumors of behind-the-scenes turmoil and fans petitioning Rotten Tomatoes to shut down, "Suicide Squad" grossed $8.1 million at the international box office on its opening day on Aug. 3, Wednesday. However, sources say that David Ayer's DC movie is improbable to get the vote of the No. 2 movie market in the world.
"Suicide Squad" seemed not to be bothered at all by the raging rumors after it was shown in seven international territories. The movie's big screen debut in South Korea was a huge success with $2.9 million sales, marking the second highest opening day of all time and the fourth-highest opening day for a superhero movie for Warner Bros, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The fantasy/crime film opened at $2.7 million in France which is also the biggest opening day for a 2016 superhero movie. It is 58 percent higher than the other DC Extended Universe film "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." The movie also surpassed the opening sales of Marvel and Fox's "Deadpool" and Marvel and Disney's "Guardians of the Galaxy."
With "Suicide Squad" box-office trend, it is predicted to fetch $130 million-$140 million range in its opening day. It is slated for a weekend worldwide release, including North America.
It is not surprising if the movie that focuses on a team of incarcerated supervillains will beat "Deadpool" that scored $134.2 million in February. With its PG-13 rating and star power cast, it is on its way of acquiring the place of "Guardians of the Galaxy" for the best August debut of all time in North America.
Amidst the good news, the Warner Bros. tentpole has not yet received a release date for "Suicide Squad" in China. A close source revealed that it is very unlikely that the film will get an approval from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) that handles the approval of foreign movie release.
Typically, the China film group will set the release date of a foreign movie two months in advance. However, it has not scheduled the film on its internal release calendar yet. A Chinese executive insider shared that the group thinks that it is not a good movie to be shown in China.
"Suicide Squad" has been controversial ever since that even led filmmaker and comedian Mike Birbiglia to question MPAA for issuing a PG-13 rating to the film while his new movie "Don't Think Twice" an R-rating, Variety reported.
Birbiglia argued that his film has adults smoking weed while the DC film is all sorts of violence, but still got a PG-13 rating. According to him, the rating does not make sense.
"Suicide Squad" is set to release on Aug. 5, Friday, at 4,255 locations nationwide. Warner Bros. has not aired its side on the speculations about the movie's China release.
Watch out the video that talk about the film's bad reviews: