How Successful has Suicide Squad been?

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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.

Suicide Squad Critical Reviews

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?

Suicide Squad vs the Marvel Movie Universe: Critics Comparison

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:

1. Iron Man

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 94%

2. Avengers

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%

4. Captain America 3: Civil War

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 90%

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 89%

6. Captain America: First Avenger

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%

6.= Ant-Man

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%

8. Iron Man 3

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%

9. Thor

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77%

10. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%

11. Iron Man 2

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%

12. The Incredible Hulk

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%

13. Thor: The Dark World

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 66%

Suicide Squad 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:

1. Captain America 3: Civil War

IMDB Rating: 8.3

2. Avengers

IMDB Rating: 8.1

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

IMDB Rating: 8.1

4. Iron Man

IMDB Rating: 7.9

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

IMDB Rating: 7.8

6. Avengers: Age of Ultron

IMDB Rating: 7.5

7. Ant-Man

IMDB Rating: 7.4

8. Iron Man 3

IMDB Rating: 7.3

9. Thor: The Dark World

IMDB Rating: 7.1

10. Iron Man 2

IMDB Rating: 7

10.= Thor

IMDB Rating: 7

12. The Incredible Hulk

IMDB Rating: 6.8

12.= Captain America: First Avenger

IMDB Rating: 6.8

Suicide Squad IMDB Rating: 6.8

Suicide Squad vs Marvel Movie Universe: Box Office

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:

1. Avengers

Domestic: $623,357,910

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Domestic: $459,005,868

3. Iron Man 3

Domestic: $409,013,994

4. Captain America 3: Civil War

Domestic: $347,215,892

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

Domestic: $333,176,600

6. Iron Man 2

Domestic: $312,433,331

Suicide Squad Domestic: $300,812,503

7. Iron Man

Domestic: $263,427,551

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Domestic: $259,766,572

9. Thor: The Dark World

Domestic: $206,362,140

10. Thor

Domestic: $181,030,624

11. Ant-Man

Domestic: $180,202,163

12. Captain America: First Avenger

Domestic: $176,654,505

13. The Incredible Hulk

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:

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Foreign: $946,408,000

2. Avengers

Foreign: $896,200,000

3. Iron Man 3

Foreign: $806,426,000

4. Captain America 3: Civil War

Foreign: $706,900,000

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Foreign: $454,654,931

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

Foreign: $440,135,799

7. Thor: The Dark World

Foreign: $438,240,376

Suicide Squad Foreign: $378,100,000

8. Ant-Man

Foreign: $339,243,000

9. Iron Man 2

Foreign: $311,500,000

10. Thor

Foreign: $268,295,994

11. Iron Man

Foreign: $266,762,121

12. Captain America: First Avenger

Foreign: $193,915,269

13. The Incredible Hulk

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:

1. Avengers

Worldwide: $1,519,557,910

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Worldwide: $1,405,413,868

3. Iron Man 3

Worldwide: $1,215,439,994

4. Captain America 3: Civil War

Worldwide: $1,054,115,892

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

Worldwide: $773,312,399

6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Worldwide:$714,421,503

Suicide Squad Worldwide: $678,912,503 (up 1 place)

7. Thor: The Dark World

Worldwide: $644,602,516

8. Iron Man 2

Worldwide: $623,933,331

9. Iron Man

Worldwide: $585,174,222

10. Ant-Man

Worldwide: $519,445,163

11. Thor

Worldwide: $449,326,618

12. Captain America: First Avenger

Worldwide: $370,569,774

13. The Incredible Hulk

Worldwide: $263,427,551

And the Suicide Squad is still drawing money.

Conclusion

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?

What do you think?

Let me know via Twitter or Facebook

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