Despite the heavy promotion and media appearances by John Cena, “The Suicide Squad” film directed by James Gunn drew just $26.5 million at the box office from 4,002 North American theaters, according to Variety. The feeling was that the movie would draw more people due to the excellent reviews. The film led the box office charts but fell short of projections by industry insiders.
The belief is that the movie was hurt by the news about the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The film was also released on HBO Max at no charge to subscribers. Variety added that the R-rating also hurt the movie.
The movie cost $185 million to produce so they have a long way to go before they can break even.
In other wrestling-related movie news, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s “Jungle Cruise” dipped to $15.7 million in ticket sales from 4,310 theaters in its second week. The film has grossed $65 million in North America and $121 million globally. Disney announced last week that the film made $30 million on Disney Plus.