Box Office: ‘Suicide Squad’ tops foreign box office with $58.7 million

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES(Variety.com) – “Suicide Squad” topped foreign box office charts for a second consecutive week. The super villain adventure picked up $58.7 million from 15,600 screens across 62 territories, pushing its global gross to $465.4 million.

That’s a big haul, but Warner Bros. spent lavishly on the film, shelling out $175 million to produce the movie and north of $100 million to market it. It needs to be one of the year’s biggest hits for the studio to turn a profit. To that end, the film is fighting bad reviews and poor word-of-mouth as it tries to keep bringing in crowds. It also has been denied an entry into China, depriving it of as much as $100 million in revenue from the world’s second biggest market for film.

“Suicide Squad” opened in Argentina and Italy over the weekend, picking up $2.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively. Among holdover territories, the film nabbed $6.7 million in Brazil, $5.5 million in the United Kingdom, $4.4 million in Australia, $4.3 million in Mexico, and $4.3 million in Russia. Domestically, the film slid a painful 67% in its second weekend, earning $43.8 million.

In second place, Illumination Entertainment and Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets” racked up $40 million from 48 territories. The animated hit centers on what animals do while their masters are at work, and has made $592.6 million globally on a $75 million budget. It opened in first place in Japan this weekend with $10 million. After its second week of release in China, “The Secret Life of Pets” has generated $49.1 million.

“Line Walker,” a Hong Kong-Chinese crime film, took third place, earning $26 million. Universal’s “Jason Bourne” picked up $18.6 million from 60 foreign territories, bringing its global gross to $246.2 million. “Love 020,” another Chinese release, rounded out the top five, earning $17.5 million.