Bad reviews can't keep the skwad down: "Suicide Squad" came out swinging on Thursday night, beating back the naysayers to nab an impressive $20.5 million in preview box office receipts, easily beating the previous August Thursday night champ.

That former record-holder, "Guardians of the Galaxy," earned $11.2 million on the Thursday before its 2014 opening weekend. Its also the current August opening weekend record holder, with a Friday through Sunday total of $94.3 million.

But "Squad"'s numbers certainly put it on track to easily outpace that sum. Early reports had suggested a $115 million opening for the DC villains team-up flick, but that number was later adjusted to the $130 million to $140 million range, where it's currently tracking. It's also doing well overseas, pulling in a total of $8.1 million from seven foreign markets on Wednesday.

"Squad" -- like its predecessor, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" -- took a drubbing from critics after the review embargo was lifted earlier this week, leading many DC fans to angrily protest. Some even wanted to shut down review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes (which currently lists the film as rotten at 27 percent). That's unlikely to happen, but fans may rebel in a different way, by carrying the flick to a huge box office haul this weekend.

We'll see just how much of that anger translates into dollars in a few days. "Suicide Squad" officially opens today.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]