How much will Suicide Squad shatter the August opening record by? Currently, the biggest August opening sits at $94.3 million. The record, held by 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, will probably fall by Saturday as Suicide Squad should pass $100 million in 2 days. The only other movie opening this week is a comedy that feels like a throwback to a different time period in filmmaking as a comatose Kevin Spacey gets trapped in a cat’s body. While there are currently no theater counts on the other 4 movies mentioned with an expected release date of August 5th, here is MHT’s recommendations on what to see or not see for August 5th:
Suicide Squad
Theater Count: 4,255
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leo, Jai Courtney, Common, Scott Eastwood, Viola Davis, Cara Delevigne, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernández, Adam Beach, Ben Affleck
Buzz:
The trailers for Suicide Squad generated a lot of hype for this film but skepticism surrounds the film’s quality after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It’s only Friday morning and the gap is extremely wide between the critic’s Tomatometer (27%) and the audience score (74% liked it) on Rotten Tomatoes. The DC fan boys are so irate about this disparity that Rotten Tomatoes — basically just an aggregate of other people’s opinions — has been targeted to be shut down. If Suicide Squad is as bad as the critical response seems to suggest, this will continue the ridiculousness of the online fighting that went on during the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice release which means the reverse will likely happen when Doctor Strange releases in November. In a twist even more unusual, it turns out Suicide Squad went through extensive reshoots to lighten the mood because of the poorly received Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. All that being said, Suicide Squad should produce big box office numbers as there really isn’t much out to compete with it and there is a lot of excitement for the release.
See the Trailer:
Movie Hot Take:
See it! Love it or hate it, you’re going to want to be able to intelligently argue whether or not this is good or bad. It’ll probably devolve into some less than intelligent tweet exchange with someone who thinks it’s the greatest thing ever or a total shit show but that’s what watching superhero films in the 2010s has become. Oh and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t good or bad. It was mediocre.
Nine Lives
Theater Count: 2,264
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken, Cheryl Hines
Buzz:
Barry Sonnenfeld’s first film not tied to the Men In Black franchise in over a decade looks and feels much older than that in concept. Having already seen in (expect a Movie Hot Take review soon), it feels like it was found in a vault where it’s been sitting for a decade or two (or even three). Body switch movies were all the rage in the late ’80s and then there was 1993’s Look Who’s Talking Now which might be the closest thing to compare it to as far as the overall mood of the film. Critics haven’t unsheathed their claws on this film (yet!) but don’t worry, it’s coming. Early audience response has been lukewarm at best (52% of 4,297 audience members have liked it so far). None of this adds up to an overly positive response for the film which looks destined to be Sonnenfeld’s worst film box office-wise outside of 2002’s Big Trouble.
See the Trailer:
Movie Hot Take:
Skip it! Before seeing the movie, Nine Lives looked like it might be campy fun. Unfortunately, no one brought a tent or knows how to start a fire at this camp out. If you do decide to go, at least it’s over quickly.
Box Office Recap (July 29th Weekend)
- Jason Bourne ($59,215,365)
- Star Trek Beyond ($24,754,339)
- Bad Moms ($23,817,340)
- The Secret Life of Pets ($18,915,140)
- Ice Age: Collision Course ($10,988,839)
- Lights Out ($10,803,331)
- Ghostbusters ($10,125,735)
- Nerve ($9,445,456)
- Finding Dory ($4,322,747)
- The Legend of Tarzan ($2,467,018)
Jason Bourne doubled up on the next closest movie and Bad Moms nearly took out Star Trek Beyond for the 2nd spot. The rest of the week was mostly as expected.
Box Office Predictions for August 5th Weekend
- Suicide Squad ($138,000,000)
Friday/Saturday/Sunday: $67.6m/$42.8m/$27.6m - Jason Bourne ($23,000,000)
- Bad Moms ($13,400,000)
- The Secret Life of Pets ($12,500,000)
- Star Trek Beyond ($10,900,000)
- Lights Out ($5,900,000)
- Nine Lives ($5,900,000)
- Ghostbusters ($5,500,000)
- Ice Age: Collision Course ($5,500,000)
- Nerve ($4,400,000)
Finding Dory ($2.5m), Café Society ($1.3m), Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party ($1.1m)
Suicide Squad shatters the August opening record. Nine Lives might bomb even worse than the $5.9 million figure we’re calling.