‘The Suicide Squad’ struggles in opening with $12.2m

‘The Suicide Squad’, a Warner Bros and DC release, marked its debut to $12.2 million in 4,002 North American theatres on Friday, despite the challenges posed by the delta variant and a hybrid theatrical-home release, reports Hollywood Reporter.

This puts the tentpole on track to open to a lower-than-expected $27 million at the domestic box office.

The independent sequel about DC’s squad of anti-heroes is directed by James Gunn and stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Peter Capaldi.

The film is a hit with critics, with a 96 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were a little less enthusiastic, awarding it a B+.

‘The Suicide Squad’ intends to reinvigorate the franchise after the 2016’s ‘Suicide Squad’, directed by David Ayer and grossing $175 million domestically.

Warner Bros was predicting a $30 million opening weekend.

A month ago, Disney and Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ made its debut to an all-time high of $80 million. ‘F9’ comes in second place with $70 million.

‘The Suicide Squad’ follows a gang of convicted criminals as they destroy a Nazi-era laboratory. They come across a huge monster named Starro along the journey.