Last night, Warner Bros. held itsworld premiereforSuicide Squadin New York City, with the arrivals and interviews streamed live for fans in New York City. Once the red carpet festivities had ended, directorDavid Ayerand his cast went inside the Beacon Theater and introduced their movie. At one point during the introduction, a fan yelled out something about Marvel Studios, which lead the director to blurt out, “F–k Marvel,” comments the director later apologized for.
For those who have been followingSuicide Squadfrom the get-go, this isn’t the first timeDavid Ayerhas thrown some shade at Marvel Studios. Before the very first trailer debuted at Comic-Con last year, while production was still under way, the director told the Hall H crowd that DC Comics has the “best villains,” and while claiming he wasn’t trying to start an “East Coast/West Coast' feud with Marvel, he also added that “someone has to speak the truth.” Shortly after his “f–k Marvel” comment at last night’s premiere,David Ayerapologized onTwitterwith the following statement.
“Sorry about getting caught up in the moment and saying f*ck Marvel. Someone said it. I echoed. Not cool. Respect for my brother filmmakers.”
If this week’sbox officeprojections are accurate,Suicide Squadcould be putting up some huge numbers this weekend that would actually break one of Marvel Studios' box office records. Two years ago, Marvel’sGuardians of the GalaxyshatteredThe Bourne Ultimatum’s August record of $69.2 million by earning a whopping $94.3 million, en route to $333.1 million domestic and $773.1 million worldwide. Even by the most conservative of projections,Suicide Squadwill seemingly destroy this record.
However, it’s worth noting that the firstmovie reviewshave started to trickle in, and they aren’t exactly positive. The movie currently has a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with just 10 positive reviews out of the 26 that have already been posted. Obviously, those numbers will change between now and the movie’s debut in theaters this Friday, but it certainly isn’t off to a good critical start. It’s possible that these negative reviews could impact the box office, but we won’t know until Sunday when the box office estimates are posted.
IfSuicide Squaddoes ended up making over $140 million in itsopening weekend, as we predicted this morning, it will rank as the third highest debut this year, behind Marvel’sCaptain America: Civil War($179.1 million) and Warner Bros./DC’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice($166 million). Disney Pixar’sFinding Dorycurrently has the third best opening weekend this year with $135 million, though it is the highest-grossing domestic release this year so far, with $469.1 million, withDeadpoollanding in the fourth highest debut spot with $132.4 million. Take a look at the video below withDavid Ayersaying “F–k Marvel” at the New York premiere, along with his apology on Twitter.
