We all live in our social media bubbles, and self-select into social circles and media outlets which only reflect our own opinions back at us. As a result, me saying I do not personally know a single person who liked Suicide Squad nor have I encountered any such person online isn't quite as damning as it sounds. Maybe I just need to expand my bubble. This, in a post-Trump world, is apparently true of all of us in all stages of our lives, but we're here to talk about the admittedly trivial matter of whether or not WB should really be making a Suicide Squad sequel if no one liked the first one. Or is there an entire community of Suicide Squad fanatics I'm just not aware of?
It's come up because various outlets are reporting WB's shortlist of potential Suicide Squad 2 directors includes Mel Gibson, Ruben Fleischer ( Zombieland), Daniel Espinosa ( Safe House), and Jonathan Levine ( Warm Bodies), with Gibson far and away the preferred choice. David Ayer is unavailable since he'll be directing Margot Robbie's Gotham City Sirens movie. The Suicide Squad 2 job is Gibson's if he wants it, and he's since confirmed the reports, characterizing his talks with WB as being at "kind of a first date" level at the moment.
Never mind that Gibson is a bit of a garbage human being whose work (both as actor and director) illustrates an ongoing persecution complex. The dude has proven he can direct action scene like few others, consistently coax Oscar worthy-performances out of actors and stay impressively on budget. Plus, he's apparently been trying to work with Will Smith for a while now, and his oft-stated dislike for comic book movies could prove to be an asset, an Abrams/ Star Trek "let an outsider come in with a fresh perspective" situation.
Not surprisingly, the reaction has been, um, mixed. " Mel Gibson Is A Dick AND A Good Pick For SUICIDE SQUAD 2 " says BirthMoviesDeath. " Mel Gibson Directing Suicide Squad Won't Right the Ship, it will Send It Directly into An Iceberg ," says TheGWW.com.
But forget about Gibson. Instead, ask yourself this: do you want or do you personally know anyone who actually wants Warner Bros. to make a Suicide Squad sequel? It was too late for WB to back out of Justice League after BvS pleased no one, but Suicide Squad 2? Give Margot Robbie her Sirens movie. Maybe give Will Smith a Deadshot movie. But just let Suicide Squad die. You salted the Earth for that franchise straight out of the gate with your staggering ineptitude.
[Cough, cough] Follow the money [cough, cough]
Yeah. I know. Squad made a lot of money, finishing as the 9th highest grossing film at the domestic box office last year and 10th at the worldwide box office with $745m. That's close enough to the $750m-$800m target it needed to hit to be considered a financial success.
It's not exactly rocket science. Make the movie. Watch the movie make an acceptable amount of money. Make the sequel. But...
Again. I get it. The finger thing means the money, but what happens when you radically overestimate how much money is left to be made from a franchise which was never beloved to begin with? Ask Rings, Huntsman: Winter's War, TMNT: Out of the Shadows, Ride Along 2, Zoolander 2, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Independence Day: Resurgence, Neighbors 2, Divergent: Allegiant and the various other recent Hollywood sequels which no one seemed to actually want.
John Wick 2? That's a sequel people wanted, and its box office performance backs that up. Suicide Squad 2, though? Meh.
Or am I just totally oblivious to how many people loved Squad (even if it was a love-hate kind of relationship) and wouldn't hesitate for a second to see a sequel (even if just to watch and mock with friends)? After all, unlike BvS Squad actually had fairly admirable domestic legs past its opening weekend , which suggests there were plenty of people seeing it multiple times and recommending it to their friends.
I now turn things over to you, the people (and yes, that was my Bane/Trump impression). Take to the comments to let me know if you want or at least personally know someone who wants WB to make Suicide Squad 2.
In the interest of fairness, here are some 5 star reviews for Suicide Squad on Letterboxd , IMDB and Amazon:
Letterboxd
