Patrick Ryan

USA TODAY

Bad reviews can’t kill Suicide Squad.

The critically maligned supervillain team-up scored the biggest August debut ever with $135.1 million at the weekend box office, according to tracking firm comScore. Its No. 1 opening smashes a record set by Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 when that Disney/Marvel movie blasted off with $94.3 million on its way to $333.2 million. It also narrowly outpaced February's opening of another dark superhero comedy, Deadpool, which started with $132.4 million and much stronger reviews (84% positive on RottenTomatoes.com, compared with Suicide's 26% approval rating).

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The Warner Bros. and DC Comics film is also the first $100 million North American opening for Will Smith, who co-stars with Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne and Jai Courtney as bad guys tasked with saving the world. Jared Leto appears as The Joker, and Viola Davis plays a government official who assembles the team.

Suicide finished just below estimates of many box office trackers, who had predicted a $140 million weekend. Despite scathing reviews, 73% of moviegoers liked it, according to Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences gave it a B-plus at CinemaScore.

"This is one of the films that people pegged all summer long to do this type of business," says Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "The reviews are usually a barometer of a big drop next weekend. I don't know that it'll be as bad as Batman v Superman" — which tumbled 69% after opening with $166 million in March — "but it's still not quite on par with what Marvel is doing. All their films received really high marks across the board."

Suicide was certainly front-loaded, with a 41% drop from Friday to Saturday. But "the good news, despite those critical barbs, is that this is the last major tentpole of the summer," says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. With only Sausage Party, Florence Foster Jenkins and Pete's Dragon opening nationwide next weekend, "they're going to have a pretty wide-open playing field into Labor Day, which will be the official end to a very volatile, unpredictable summer movie season."

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Matt Damon's latest Jason Bourne installment raced to No. 2 and $22.7 million in its second weekend ($103.4 million in 10 days). R-rated comedy Bad Moms held strong with $14.2 million ($51.1 million total), and The Secret Life of Pets barked up $11.6 million for No. 4 ($319.6 million total). Star Trek Beyond rounds out the top five with $10.2 million ($127.9 million total), and Kevin Spacey's family comedy Nine Lives makes its debut at No. 6 with $6.5 million.

Final numbers are expected Monday.