DC's The Suicide Squad opens in theaters and on HBO Max this Friday, August 6, and it is expected to dominate at the box office against basically no competition. But just how much money will the comic book movie bring in? According to Variety, the R-rated action film is tracking to make more than $30 million for its opening weekend in the US alone.

　　That figure is modest by some measures, the site reported, and a more realistic figure might be $40 million or more over its first three days. This would represent a good start for a movie release during the pandemic, the site said. However, the film had a reported budget of $180 million (and that's before marketing expenses), so it may face an uphill battle toward profitability.

　　As with all of WarnerMedia's 2021 films, The Suicide Squad is also premiering on HBO Max. Given the high-profile nature of the movie, and the huge cast of big names that it's assembled, it's expected to drive sign-ups to HBO Max, which will bring in more money.

　　The Suicide Squad is already playing in cinemas across five international regions; the UK makes up the biggest share of the international pie with $4.7 million of The Suicide Squad's $7 million from international markets thus far. The movie also opened in Australia, but one of its largest cities, Sydney, is currently in the midst of another lockdown and cinemas are closed.

　　For comparison, Marvel's Black Widow opened in July with $80 million in the US alone, while Jungle Cruise more recently made $34 million over its opening weekend domestically.

　　2016's Suicide Squad made more than $746 million globally at the box office to become the 10th highest-grossing movie that year. Despite its commercial success, it was not well received by critics. Director David Ayer recently explained how the studio's cut of the movie is not what he originally intended, though he wishes The Suicide Squad director James Gunn and the production team well as the new movie comes to market.

　　Several stars of the original movie have also responded to the possibility of an "Ayer Cut" of Suicide Squad to release the movie the way the director intended.

　　GameSpot's The Suicide Squad review scored the film a 9/10.

　　"The Suicide Squad is one of the most fun, heartfelt, and surprising modern DC movies we've seen yet," Michael Rougeau said. "Here's hoping it leads to Warner Bros. taking more chances on talented filmmakers, because the results are something special indeed."