Photorealistic composite image showing a cinema exterior with promotional posters alongside a TV and laptop streaming The Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad premiered theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021.[176] It was scheduled to debut in the United States on August 6,[89] but was moved up a day to August 5, for early preview screenings.[165] The film was also made available on the streaming service HBO Max on August 5, for a one-month premiere streaming window. This was done as part of Warner Bros.'s joint theatrical and streaming release strategy for 2021 films that was announced in December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[177] Reflecting on this release strategy in January 2022, Gunn acknowledged suggestions that it negatively impacted on the film's box office performance and said the approach was not ideal for the film. He added that the film was widely pirated following its streaming debut,[178] with a high quality version of the film appearing on piracy websites almost immediately after it was released on HBO Max.[179] Internet technology company Akamai reported, based on global unlicensed streaming and torrent data, that The Suicide Squad was the sixth most pirated film between January and September 2021.[180] Despite this, Gunn was grateful that people had been able to see the film online during the pandemic and that it had otherwise been well received Ver mais