Despite glowing reviews, The Suicide Squad fell short of the $30 million insiders had predicted, only managing to deliver an estimated $26.5 million in its opening weekend.  That was in direct contrast to its predecessor, 2016’s Suicide Squad, which opened with $133.7 million amid bad reviews.

To be fair, The Suicide Squad‘s lackluster performance faced new challenges — the new surge in COVID-19 cases and the fact that it was simultaneously available to HBO Max subscribers at no additional cost.  The streamer has not made the number of home viewers available.

The movie, from director James Gunn and starring Viola Davis and Margot Robbie — reprising her role as Harley Quinn — along with franchise newcomers Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Pete Davidson, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi and Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Nanaue/King Shark, added an estimated $45.7 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $72.2 million.

Last week’s box office champ, Disney’s Jungle Cruise, slipped to number two in its second week, delivering an estimated $15.7 million.  That brings the movie’s stateside total to $65.3 million, to go with its estimated $56.5 million overseas, and pushes its worldwide tally to $121.8 million.

M. Night Shyamalan’s horror feature Old earned an estimated $4.1 million, pushing its three-week stateside total to $38.5 million. Marvel’s Black Widow took fourth place with an estimated $4 million, for a domestic box office total of $174 million. Its global total stands at $359.8 million.

Rounding out the top five is Stillwater. The indie thriller, starring Matt Damon, grabbed an estimated $2 million in its second week of release. The film has has yet to open internationally.

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