Nobody was predicting any other outcome except Free Guy comfortably topping the box office this weekend, so the fact it snatched first place away from The Suicide Squad after a solitary week is hardly a surprise. However, with most projections tracking for a debut somewhere around the $20-25 million range, by the standards of the pandemic era it has to be viewed as a win that Shawn Levy’s blockbuster scored a $28 million bow.
That’s not quite as high as recent releases Jungle Cruise or Space Jam: A New Legacy, and nowhere near A Quiet Place Part II, Fast & Furious 9 or Black Widow, but given the hesitancy on the part of audiences to return to theaters in their numbers, Disney and 20th Century Studios won’t be seeing it as anything other than a huge win.
Ryan Reynolds’ latest effects-heavy blockbuster also nabbed $22 million internationally for a global weekend in excess of $50 million, and while there’s still a very long way to go before it can be deemed profitable, it’s a decent enough start for Free Guy. The COVID-19 implications are hardly putting the Mouse House off the idea of sequels either, after Reynolds revealed he’s already been asked to start putting one together.
Don’t Breathe 2 opened in second place with a shade under $11 million, but it’s been a bad weekend for The Suicide Squad. In just its second frame, James Gunn’s R-rated actioner dropped down to fifth after tumbling a massive 72%, with its domestic total sitting at a measly $42 million. That’s not good news at all for the HBO Max hybrid, and it could realistically be out of the Top 10 altogether in the space of a couple of weeks.
