The IMAX houses sold $18.1 million worth of tickets, another August record. All the surcharges from these enhanced formats help the bottom line, but they also signal to even casual moviegoers that "Suicide Squad" is the kind of event that's worth seeing on a bigger screen than the ones at your house.

The "Batman v Superman" comparisons aren't all good news. After all, that movie plummeted 69 percent on its second weekend, and the film limped on short legs toward a $330.4 million domestic total, not a great number for a production that cost $250 million. (At least "BvS' made up for it slightly overseas with a $542.3 million foreign gross.)

The meh word-of-mouth eventually lined up with the lackluster reviews, and the early fan enthusiasm for "BvS" was quickly spent. If "Suicide Squad" follows the same pattern, it'll have trouble making a profit. (It's hufe Friday-to-Saturday drop of 41 percent indicates the film will have dark days ahead; that's a worse falloff than "BvS.") "Suicide" cost a reported $175 million to make -- supposedly that figure includes the $20-plus million for reshoots -- and at least $100 million more to market, so before splitting ticket revenue with theaters, it'll have to gross about $550 million worldwide to break even. That'll be tough, with an opening $31 million below "BvS" and a foreign gross that's only half the total take. Also, the film will not open in the very lucrative country of China. ("Batman" earned 62 percent of its money abroad.)

Fortunately for "Suicide Squad," it's the last major release of the summer, so it'll have little competition for the next month. The movie may have looked like an iffy proposition on paper, but it seems no one else wanted to get in these supervillains' way.