Before San Diego Comic-Con 2015, the future of Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe was clear: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was set to be the huge runaway hit of 2016, kicking off the big screen Justice League and the future of the franchise to come. Then, later in the year, DC fans would get another treat in the form of David Ayer's Suicide Squad - a smaller side project about a team of supervillains who are recruited by the government to carry out deadly missions.
However, after the first teaser trailer for Suicide Squad was unveiled at SDCC 2015 (then leaked online, then officially released online), fans and moviegoers started to realize that Warner Bros. might have something really special in store. And with Batman V Superman not quite managing to become the breakout success that the studio was hoping for, many are wondering if Suicide Squad will end up being the biggest hit of the DCEU so far.
Such speculation will only be further fueled by THR's latest report that Suicide Squad is tracking for a staggering $125 million opening weekend, with some box office analysts suggesting it could climb even higher than that. For comparison's sake, Batman V Superman's opening weekend was $166 million, but the film suffered a sharp drop-off in the following weeks due to its poor critical reception. If Suicide Squad's reviews and audience response live up the current hype, the film has a real shot at becoming the highest-grossing DC Comics-based movie of 2016.
Though the Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are probably the only Suicide Squad characters that the average moviegoer will have heard of (not counting what looks to be a rather brief appearance by Batman), the film has benefited from an outstanding marketing campaign, which has revolved around bright colors and a tattoo parlor aesthetic. In addition to an excellent collection of trailers cut to nostalgic songs like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz," the movie also features a number of original songs composed for the soundtrack by artists like Twenty One Pilots, Lil Wayne and Skrillex, which have helped to capture the attention of music fans as well as movie fans.
Suicide Squad is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 5, 2016; Wonder Woman is slated for release on June 2, 2017; followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019;Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash is currently without a release date.
Source: THR