'Suicide Squad' threepeats, 'Hell or High Water' strong in expansion

Weekend Box Office Aug. 19-21, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) - Despite tepid reviews from critics and audiences alike, “Suicide Squad” stayed on top of the domestic box office with $20.7 million for a domestic total of $262 million (depending on how international numbers shake out, the worldwide should pass $600 million this week). Warner Bros. can’t be all that happy with the general reaction to the film, but in an industry where money talks much louder than critical acclaim, the studio has to be pleasantly surprised by the numbers. Just imagine how massive the film could have been if it had even come close to matching the audience anticipation.

In second place is the R-rated animated film “Sausage Party” with $15.3 million. Domestic totals are a robust $65 million against a budget reported to be less than $20 million. Even if the film were to close today, it would be considered a resounding success.

In third place is “War Dogs” with $14.3 million. That’s probably less than what Warner Bros. was hoping for, but considering the cold shoulder from critics and the fading value of director Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” franchise) it’s about as good as they could have hoped for.

In fourth place is “Kubo and the Two Strings” with $12.6 million. This is rather disheartening when you consider the lifeless “Ice Age: Collision Course” managed $21 million in its first weekend and the utterly disappointing “The Secret Life of Pets” did $104 in its first three days. “Kubo” is considered by many (including me) as the current frontrunner for Best Animated Picture. In fact, it’s my highest-rated film of the year.

In fifth place is the ill-received “Ben-Hur” remake with $11.3 million. With a production budget of $100 million, Paramount is going to need the film to be a hit overseas to simply break even.

The real success story of the weekend is “Hell or High Water.” The film’s $2.6 million might not seem all that impressive at first glance, but when you consider it was only playing in 472 theaters (“Suicide Squad" was in 3,924) and had a weekend-best average of $5,614 per theater (“Suicide Squad” averaged $5,278) it’s hard to not be impressed (and ecstatic, because it’s a great film).