Suicide Squad (2016 film)

Suicide Squad is a 2016 American superhero film based on the the supervillain/anti-hero team. It is the third installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was written and directed by David Ayer and stars an ensemble cast including Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, and Cara Delevingne. In the film, a secret government agency led by Amanda Waller recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions and save the world from a powerful threat in exchange for reduced sentences.

By February 2009, a Suicide Squad film was in development at Warner Bros. Ayer signed on to write and direct in September 2014, and by October the casting process had begun. Principal photography began in Toronto on April 13, 2015, with additional filming in Chicago, and ended in August that year.

Suicide Squad premiered in New York City on August 1, 2016, and was released in the United States on August 5 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Following a strong debut that set box office records, it grossed $749 million, making it the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2016. The film received negative reviews from critics, who praised the performances and makeup effects but criticized the editing, pacing, screenplay, CGI effects, soundtrack, and tonal inconsistency. Ayer himself disowned the film after its release, claiming that extensive studio interference had ruined his vision. Despite this, it won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 89th Academy Awards, making it the only DCEU film to have won an Academy Award, and received numerous other accolades. It was followed by a spin-off film, Birds of Prey (2020), where Robbie reprises her role, and a standalone sequel, The Suicide Squad (2021).