Suicide Squad had an amazing opening weekend at the domestic box office. However, the success of the film wasn't just a big deal for a single project, but for the studio as a whole. The $135 million that the movie is estimated to have brought in over the weekend is more than enough to put Warner Bros. over the $1 billion domestic mark for the year. While this milestone is a big one, it's become old hat for the studio, as they've done it 17 of the last 18 years, something no other studio has ever done.
While the DC Extended Universe films may not be making the top ten lists of any critics this year, there's no denying their ability to bring in box office dollars. Suicide Squad, and its estimated $135 million, is likely to have set every box office record that the month of August has to offer. In addition to winning the weekend, the movie also helped put its studio, Warner Bros., over the top in their race to $1 billion.
According to Yahoo, no studio has hit that milestone as consistently as Warner Bros. over the past couple of decades. Warner Bros. has been responsible for some major franchises that have helped them attain this level of consistency, most notably the Harry Potter films and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. This year it is also due to DC comics movies that the studio has had a strong year. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. brought in nearly a third of that billion dollars by itself. In addition, three other films in addition to Suicide Squad have broken the $100 million mark, Central Intelligence, The Legend of Tarzan, and The Conjuring 2.
You have to go back to 2000 to find a year that Warner Bros. didn't crack $1 billion. The year before the Harry Potter franchise launched, the studio only had one film that broke $100 million, The Perfect Storm. They still made it to $900 million by the end of the year, but no further. It's obvious why Warner Bros., and every other studio, is so focused on the franchise model today. It makes a huge difference to the bottom line.
While this isn't the fastest that the studio has reached the milestone, having the biggest August ever will likely put them on track for one of their biggest years in recent memory. They do have one other blockbuster release planned for 2016, the return of their cash cow Harry Potter franchise with the spinoff film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The sequel to that film has already been announced.
How many of Warner Bros. big films of 2016 have you seen? Which one was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
