“Suicide Squad”, an off-beat superhero-type tale, earned $43.5 million between Friday and Sunday, giving it a two-week take of $222.6 million, according to box-office tracker comScore.
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Word of mouth may have caught up with the poorly reviewed film, which stars Margot Robbie and Will Smith. Suicide Squad still managed to break box office records, despite David Ayer’s controversial remarks and a spate of negative reviews. The low budget ($19 million) animated R-rated film about talking foodstuffs pulled down over $36 million and could have legs to continue for a few weeks yet. Disney’s live-action/CG remake of its 1977 film stars Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard and cost a reported $65 million to produce. Third place went to the other new animated release Pete’s Dragon, which brought in $21.5 million. They’ll have a couple more chances with next year’s Wonder Woman and Justice League.
Rounding out the top five are Jason Bourne and Bad Moms, with $13.6 and $11.4 million, respectively.
Though “Suicide Squad” has brought in $465 million (£360 million) in its 12 days on release worldwide, the pace will only slow from this point onwards.
It is a less-than-stellar launch for a film well-received by critics, though not as poor as Disney’s “The BFG”, another live-action/CG hybrid from earlier this summer that earned only $53.3 million in the USA against a $140 million budget.
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Stephen Frears directed Florence Foster Jenkins, based on the real-life story of a NY heiress who bought a career as an opera star only to be ridiculed. produced by Pathe and BBC Films and distributed by Paramount.
Meryl Streep’s latest film opened at #8 as Florence Foster Jenkins brought in a modest $6.6 million. The actor highlighted that despite the number of haters, he and his co-stars have gained a lot of support and admiration from those who appreciate the film.
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The specialty marketplace saw an impressive debut from the Jeff Bridges-Chris Pine film Hell or High Water which made off with an estimated $592,000 from 32 locations for a solid $18,500 average.
