The Batman Passes Suicide Squad At Worldwide Box Office
The Batman officially passes Suicide Squad at the worldwide box office with over $750 million earned ahead of its HBO Max streaming debut. The DC Extended Universe film revolved around the titular team of supervillains, including Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and El Diablo, brought together by Amanda Waller to help save the world from the ancient evil force, Enchantress. Written and directed by David Ayer, Suicide Squad received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics for its unoriginal plot and lackluster direction while praise was aimed at the performances of its cast.
The Batman was originally intended to be a part of the DCEU with Ben Affleck reprising his role as the titular Dark Knight, which he had played in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League. With the latter's troubled production and problems in his own life, Affleck would depart the project and Matt Reeves, who was initially brought on to direct Affleck, would rework it into a separate franchise with Robert Pattinson donning the cowl. After encountering some COVID-related production issues, The Batman would hit theaters in March to rave reviews from critics and has now crossed a major box office mark.
Deadline has brought word that The Batman has passed Suicide Squad at the worldwide box office after just over a month of being in theaters. The Robert Pattinson-led film has crossed the $750 million mark, having grossed over $385 million internationally and $365 million domestically. Warner Bros' President of Distribution Jeff Goldstein wrote the following statement regarding the box office milestone:
“The incredible response we’ve seen at theaters across the country is a testament to both the enduring power of this iconic DC Super Hero and the huge appetite out there to experience great movies on the big screen. We congratulate everyone involved on reaching this impressive milestone.”
David Ayer's Suicide Squad was the DCEU's best earner upon its release, grossing over $746 million against its $175 million production budget, technically falling short of Batman v Superman's $873 million haul, though the superhero battle cost $250 million to make. The supervillain team-up would later be surpassed the following summer by Wonder Woman's record-setting $822 million gross and Aquaman's still-unbeaten $1.148 billion haul. Despite this, Suicide Squad is still the only DCEU film to have won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
While it may not be a part of the DCEU, The Batman's box office milestone is an important step forward for DC Comics in general on the big screen. Due to the pandemic, the last three DCEU films have largely underperformed at the box office, with Birds of Prey grossing $201 million, shy of its $250-300 million break-even point, Wonder Woman 1984 reportedly losing WB north of $100 million and James Gunn's The Suicide Squad grossing $167 million against its $185 million production budget, though the latter was still considered a success thanks to its HBO Max viewership records. With The Batman acting as the start of a new shared universe from Matt Reeves and various plans in the works for the DCEU, its major box office milestone will prove helpful in cementing WB's confidence for everything going forward.
Source: Deadline