Early Returns: 'Suicide Squad' Starts Off Strong

Suicide Squad set its feet squarely on the path to a record-breaking weekend with a strong performance in Thursday night previews. The film set its first record on its first day, when it established a new high-water mark for August preview showings. Whether or not the film holds up as well through the weekend remains to be seen, especially since critics have not been kind to it so far.

Suicide Squad took in $20.5 million during preview showings, easily squashing the August record set in 2014 by Guardians of the Galaxy, which earned only $11.2 million in previews. Guaradians of the Galaxy went on to earn $94.3 million in its opening weekend, a figure that would be considered a disappointment for Suicide Squad at this point.

On the all-time preview list, Suicide Squad's bow stands in thirteenth place, right behind fellow DC Comics title Man of Steel. Suicide Squad is hoping for an opening close to that of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; that film took in $27.7 million during its preview showings and went on to earn $166 million in its first weekend. An opening-weekend take of $140 million would be considered a major win for Suicide Squad, though.