Suicide Squad Projected For $140 Million Opening Weekend

Well, would you look at that? Despite some harsh reviews, it looks like Suicide Squad is set to rake in a massive opening this weekend. According to Variety, the super-villain flick is projected to gross around $140 million dollars in the U.S. based on early predictions.

Playing at +4k locations, Suicide Squad has already stunned forecasters with its preview showings. On Thursday night, the movie stashed over $20 million into its overall gross from preview screenings alone, making it the 13 biggest preview opening ever.

So, if Suicide Squad sticks to its current trajectory, it'll stand in as one of the top twenty domestic openings of all-time. The film is also guaranteed to nab the record for highest August film opening, beating out Guardians of the Galaxy by more than $45 million. Fandango has already confirmed Suicide Squad has broken its August record for pre-sale tickets, so it would be more shock to hear the film overtook Marvel's project at the box office.

And, what's more, a $140 million opening would put Suicide Squad in direct competition with other Marvel films such as Captain America. The opening prediction would make DC's film have the third biggest opening of 2016 behind Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And, even if the opening is a little less, Suicide Squad's would likely beat out Finding Dory and Deadpool with ease.

So, clearly, it seems fans aren't too keen on heeding critics' reviews of the film. The gap between critics and fans continues to grow, and Suicide Squad's success will stand to illustrate the disparity. So far, critics have generated a paltry 26% 'Rotten' rating on the site Rotten Tomatoes, a score lower than that of Batman v Superman.

But, elsewhere on the Internet, hype over Suicide Squad is still going strong. The film boasts a Facebook page with over 4 million followers, and analysts at comScore have clearly indicated a wide range of online fans are very interested in seeing the film.

Have you seen Suicide Squad yet? Want to win a Hot Toys Joker figure from the movie? All you have to do head on over to ComicBook.com's Movie Database or click the image above and rate the movie to enter! A winner will be chosen August 19th, 2016!