In exchange for lighter sentences, just like the anti-hero team in Suicide Squad (2016), a new batch of Belle Reve's meta-humans strike a deal with the cold head of Task Force X, Amanda Waller. This time, her ragtag band of super-powered convicts--Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and Ratcatcher 2--venture into the peril-laden South American island nation of Corto Maltese to find the Thinker: the evil scientist in charge of the mysterious Project Starfish. But, as the band joins forces with an old leader of the notorious team, humankind is on the verge of extinction. Can the expendable Suicide Squad stop the new menace that could mean the end of the world as we know it?

What is the budget of The Suicide Squad?

"The Suicide Squad," a action released in 2021, was directed by James Gunn and stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba. The production budget was $185,000,000, placing it in the blockbuster range for action productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a action production like this include:

Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects: Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
Production Design, Sets & Locations: Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment , all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
Writing: Gunn wrote a treatment that was a few pages long, and then quickly produced several drafts of the script that Warner Bros.

What were the major cost factors in The Suicide Squad?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "The Suicide Squad."

Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.

How Does The Suicide Squad's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $185,000,000, The Suicide Squad sits in the blockbuster range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

The Dark Knight (2008): Budget $185,000,000, Worldwide Gross $1,004,558,444
Brave (2012): Budget $185,000,000, Worldwide Gross $538,983,207
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): Budget $185,000,000, Worldwide Gross $786,636,033
Kong: Skull Island (2017): Budget $185,000,000 , Gross $566,652,812
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019): Budget $185,000,000 , Gross $491,730,089

The median budget for wide-release action films in the 2020s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

The Suicide Squad Box Office Performance

"The Suicide Squad" earned $55,817,425 domestically and $168,717,425 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $185,000,000, the film faced challenges in theatrical release. Home video, streaming, and ancillary revenue may have contributed to its overall performance.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "The Suicide Squad," that break-even threshold was roughly $370,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $168,717,425, the film did not reach break-even in theatrical release.

Production Budget: $185,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $168,717,425
Net Return: −$16,282,575
ROI: approximately -8.8%

At -8.8%, "The Suicide Squad" did not recoup its production budget through theatrical release alone.

The Suicide Squad Production History

Gunn wrote a treatment that was a few pages long, and then quickly produced several drafts of the script that Warner Bros. was "extremely high" on. He said the film was "its own thing", rather than a sequel or reboot; it does not explicitly address the events of the first film or Birds of Prey, but it also does not contradict them.

When acknowledging the first film's negative reception, Gunn said there were aspects of it that he loved and defended Ayer's casting choices; but the actor declined as he had a scheduling conflict with Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead (2021). John Cena entered talks for a role in the film that was believed to be Peacemaker in late April, as Gunn had wanted to work with Cena since seeing his performance in Trainwreck (2015). Cena made numerous unsuccessful attempts to join the DCEU prior to his casting in this film.

Principal photography began on September 20, 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, under the working title El Dorado. Henry Braham served as cinematographer, after previously doing so for Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Awards and Recognition

4 wins & 44 nominations total

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Suicide Squad holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average score of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn's singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks a funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material's violent, anarchic strengths." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 55 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.