This weekend, at long last, the sagging domestic box office looks to get a much-needed shot in the arm, from the hotly-anticipated “Suicide Squad.” Horrible reviews may hinder just how big it can get, but make no mistake, “Squad” will be wallop every summer opening this side of “Finding Dory.” I always think of this song when I hear the name “Suicide Squad.” Hopefully the movie will be good enough to warrant the association.

Weekend: August 5th-7th, 2016
Big New Releases: “Suicide Squad,” “Nine Lives”
Big Holdovers: “Jason Bourne,” “Bad Moms,” “Star Trek Beyond,” “Lights Out,” “Ice Age: Collision Course,” “The Secret Life of Pets”

1. “Suicide Squad” (PG-13, 4,255 theaters) – $130 million first weekend, $280 million final

This was a tough one to predict. Before this week, “Suicide Squad” was looking like one of the bright spots in what has proven to be a miserable summer at the box office, loaded with unloved sequels and reboots. Though it is a reboot/spinoff in its own right (it’s the third entry in Warner Brothers’ DC Extended Universe, after “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — Batfleck makes a cameo), the great trailers and inspired marketing campaign (right down to killer coloring selections for the graphics and a terrific logo) have made it look like something new and fresh and altogether different, despite the presence of Jai Courtney, who has co-starred in almost as many shitty franchise movies as Shia LaBeouf has starred in (almost). After all, they had a non-Zack Snyder director (Chicago-born David Ayer, writer of “Training Day”) this time and a stellar cast. Instead of a mopey protagonist with a nice chin, “Suicide Squad” has promised to deliver something different from DC: a “Dirty Dozen”-esque squad of disreputable denizens, fronted by Will Smith’s Dead Shot, Jared Leto’s Joker, and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, offered a shot at redemption by government bigwig Viola Davis and her team of twisted bureaucrat overlords.

But then the reviews started rolling in. And then I really started looking into just how painful a birth this beast has had. DC may have really shot itself in the foot by overthinking this thing into its currently poorly-reviewed, multiple-personality disorder tone.Suddenly, prospects for the $175 million behemoth’s quality got pretty bleak. I’m talking “Batman V Superman” bleak, friends. Bleaker than the inky-black color palette of Zack Snyder’s two shitty DCEU movies. Don’t get me wrong, “Suicide Squad” is still going to have the biggest-ever opening in the month of August (a heady space currently occupied by the $94.3 million brought in by “Guardians of the Galaxy” two Augusts ago). And one of the biggest openings of 2016. I thought it had a shot at $150 million+ this weekend, at maybe even approaching the $179.1 million take of “Captain America: Civil War.” But with such negative advance buzz, a segment of its adult audience (probably the 35-and-over crowd, who actually read reviews) may be turned off. I don’t see it beating “Captain America” or “Batman v Superman” ($166 million) but it has an outside shot at surpassing the $135.1 million of “Finding Dory” and the $132.4 million of “Deadpool.”

Fans (who haven’t seen it because it only comes out tonight) want to shut down Rotten Tomatoes because they don’t appreciate this recent wave of negative reviews. I wish I was kidding. The whole principal of critics is that, you know, they have opinions. The whole point of this nations’s 1st Amendment, is, you know, free speech, which extends to freedom of the press to say whatever they feel compelled to say. Trying to censor or in any way suppress those opinions is another disgusting extension of this whole anti-micro-aggression sensitive culture. Don’t big brother movie critics, you ignorant fanboy fucks. See the damn movie before you ascribe greatness to it. Armani Barron and I will be scoping “Suicide Squad” tonight, and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of thoughts for you soon enough. Don’t get me wrong, I hope it’s good. But I have my doubts now.

2. “Jason Bourne” (PG-13, 4,039 theaters) – $25 million (-58%) second weekend, $150 million final

Following a $59.2 million first weekend, “Jason Bourne” should suffer the same sharp decline “Star Trek Beyond” experienced last weekend. Both opened to just about $59 million, as sequels of pseudo-exhausted properties, their debuts were themselves victims to significant declines from opening weekend takes in the $69-70 million range for their preceding franchise entries. Last weekend, “Beyond” brought in $24.8 million, for a 58.2% drop. This weekend, I’m going to pencil “Bourne” in for an identical 58% decline, which would put its earnings right at that $25 million weekend finish.

3. “Bad Moms” (R, 3,215 theaters) – $14 million (-41%) second weekend, $85 million final

After a decent $23.8 million first weekend, which was just in line with the high end of studio STX’s projections, the femme-targeting “Bad Moms” should ride its unique position in the marketplace a second time, easing 41% in its sophomore frame for $14 million and a 10-day sum in the vicinity of $50 million. Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn’s troublemaking trio of overextended moms who let loose has connected with its audience in a way that it hasn’t with critics, and is already well beyond its $20 million production budget. Provided it continues to hold well, the success of “Moms” should be a career boon for all three actresses in selecting future projects.

4. “The Secret Life of Pets” (PG, 3,413 theaters) – $11 million (-41%) fifth weekend, $350 million final

The year’s fourth $300 million+ animated smash should continue its top five ride this weekend, putting its stateside total around $320 million. The $350 million mark now stands as a realistic finish for the Universal critter blockbuster. Maybe they can finally stop making “Despicable Me” movies now.

5. “Star Trek Beyond” (PG-13, 3,263 theaters) – $10.5 million (-55%) third weekend, $160 million final

After a bigger-than-expected second weekend collapse, Paramount’s well-reviewed “Star Trek Beyond” looks to see the bleeding continue this weekend. Set to lose a whopping 665 theaters (16.9%), its gross should suffer a 55% drop at least, and bring in about $10.5 million for a $130 million total after 17 days. I don’t think it has a prayer to hit $200 million stateside anymore. Why the plummet from second place to fifth? Legs. “Beyond” has been outperformed by both “Bad Moms” and “The Secret Life of Pets” as the week has gone on, indicating dangerous levels of audience disinterest heading into the weekend.

The biggest competition for the #5 spot this week will come from “Men in Black” and “Addams Family” director Barry Sonnenfeld, now stooping to pathetic family comedy “Nine Lives,” from Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp. President Underwood himself plays the business tycoon who undergoes a furry feline transformation — it’s basically “The Shaggy Dog,” but with a cat. Besson somehow goaded a fairly A-list cast (Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Cheryl Hines, Christopher Walken) for this dubious enterprise. Although I guess Walken did make “The Country Bears” without batting an eye, and Garner was more than happy to star in “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” “Nine Lives” is opening in 2,264 theaters, a far cry from the 3K+ theaters currently occupied by “Star Trek Beyond.” Though the per-screen average may be better, the sum total will not. Despite some actual star power from Spacey, look for this one to open outside the top five (I’ll say #6 for posterity), I’m going to cap its debut gross this weekend at $9 million. Spacey is a star for adults — not exactly this movie’s target audience — and is obviously being employed here as a lure to parents — you’d never know he was in this thing from the posters or billboards, though, as its just a massive, unfunny picture of a cat with the stars confined to tiny, hard-to-see portrait boxes beneath it.

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Other Notes:

-“Eat That Question,” the found-footage Frank Zappa interview documentary that currently ranks as my favorite flick of the year, is re-expanding into 19 theaters this weekend. That total is up six theaters from last weekend, which represents a 46% bump; its biggest theater count thus far is 25. Distributor Sony Classics must like the returns they’ve seen so far if they’re expanding it again; Thorsten Schütte’s labor of love has brought in $241,812 since opening in late June. A tiny movie, probably financed on a tiny budget, with very little marketing, is continuing to play in August. Small victories!

-Friend of Filmcore Harrison Atkins’s feature film directorial debut, the ghost sex dramedy “Lace Crater” (check out the trailer here), has been receiving glowing notices from critics thus far and has a one-week Los Angeles run starting tomorrow night. Next weekend, it begins a one-week Chicago run at Facets Multimedia. Check it out!