10 Awesome Recent Movies That Didn't Deserve To Bomb

Budget: $185 million

Box Office: $167.4 million

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad was basically a big, bombastic apology for 2016's David Ayer-directed Suicide Squad, which despite negative reviews grossed a mammoth $746.8 million worldwide.

Sadly the vitriolic response to that film seemed to help poison the well against this soft reboot of-sorts, despite the fact it received rave reviews from critics and fans alike.

With a colossal $185 million budget, The Suicide Squad realistically needed to make around $450 million to be profitable, though it's worth noting that the film released day-and-date on HBO Max in the U.S., so Warner Bros. clearly sacrificed a portion of its box office to bolster their streaming service.

Yet even accepting the simultaneous release, The Suicide Squad still performed horribly, making just $167.4 million globally. Compare it to Godzilla vs. Kong, which also released day-and-date on HBO Max and still made $468.2 million worldwide.

One oft-cited reason is, again, that the 2016 Suicide Squad simply soured people on the property, and given that 2020's Birds of Prey also tanked, the interest just wasn't there.

It also didn't help that The Suicide Squad's marketing failed to clarify its exact relation to the original - was it a sequel or a reboot? General audiences weren't sure, which in addition to the lack of major A-list stars and R-rating ultimately sealed its fate.

The film was a strong performer on streaming, though, and thankfully Gunn had already shot the John Cena-starring Peacemaker spin-off series before The Suicide Squad even hit cinemas.

With Peacemaker proving a strong ratings hit on HBO Max, it seems highly likely that the Squad's future will remain on the small screen.