The box-office expectations for 'Birds of Prey' were too high and the movie could still be a win for DC and Warner Bros.
- "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" opened below studio and analyst expectations over the weekend with $33 million.
- But the movie has made $81 million globally and had a production budget of $84.5 million.
- "Birds of Prey" is rated R and stars a cast of unknown characters (besides Harley Quinn), so expectations should better reflect that.
- The movie if a spinoff of "Suicide Squad," which has a "rotten" 59% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and could have also held it back at the box office.
- Theaters are now listing the movie under a new title of "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey," which Warner Bros. told Business Insider is only a theatrical listing and not an official title change.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
After the latest DC Comics movie, "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," opened with $33 million domestically over the weekend, the headlines at various outlets weren't flattering.
The New York Times said it "stumbled" at the box office. Forbes said that the movie continued Warner Bros.' "troubling box-office slump." (Business Insider used the word "disappoints.")
Yes, the movie's box-office debut was below expectations, even Warner Bros.' conservative projection of $45 million. Boxoffice.com initially projected a $42 million bow, while Box Office Mojo anticipated $51 million. Those estimates shifted as the numbers started pouring in.
But "Birds of Prey" cost $84.5 million to produce, according to Box Office Mojo, significantly less than most big-budget superhero movies. And while it made $33 million domestically, it grossed $81 million worldwide.
Expectations were too high for "Birds of Prey" and it shouldn't be written off right away. With good word of mouth, the movie still has a chance to be a box-office hit.
'Birds of Prey is a different kind of superhero movie
Superhero movies are consistently some of the best-performing movies at the box office and DC itself has released two movies in the last two years that have grossed $1 billion: "Aquaman" and "Joker."
A better comparison is another DC Extended Universe movie, "Shazam!," which cost $100 million to make and opened with a similarly modest $53.5 million. The headlines weren't as harsh. "Birds of Prey" is a different kind of superhero movie, a R-rated one starring unknown characters (minus Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, who appeared in "Suicide Squad").
"Joker" became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, but the popular Batman foe is one of the most recognizable pop-culture characters ever. Other superhero movies have excelled at the box office without name recognition, such as "Guardians of the Galaxy," but that had a PG-13 rating and, more importantly, the Marvel brand working in its favor.
The unrecognizable title combined with its R rating could have held the movie back but dismissing it as a failure now is premature. Other recent movies have opened in the same range as "Birds of Prey" and went on to be make more than $100 million domestically thanks to positive word of mouth, such as "Hustlers," "Ford v Ferrari," and "Knives Out."
'Suicide Squad' could have tainted 'Birds of Prey'
The only recognizable aspect of "Birds of Prey" for general moviegoers was that it appeared to be a spinoff of "Suicide Squad." But while that movie opened with $133 million domestically, it didn't leave a great impression with audiences.
"Suicide Squad" dropped to $43.5 million in its second weekend in 2016, a whopping 67.5% decrease. It ultimately made $325 million domestically, but was mostly supported by its opening weekend. It has a "rotten" 59% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes while "Birds of Prey" has an 81% score.
Comic-book journalist Oliver Sava tweeted on Sunday, "I have talked to so many people who are writing ['Birds of Prey'] off because ['Suicide Squad'] was such a massive piece of s---."
The best hope for "Birds of Prey" is that positive word of mouth spreads quickly for the movie and it can sustain strong legs over the next few weeks. How it performs over the upcoming Presidents' Day long weekend will be essential.
Some theaters chains, such as AMC and Regal, are now listing the movie under a different title of "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey." A Warner Bros. spokesperson told Business Insider that this is for theatrical listings only and not an official title change.
Whether this helps audiences discover the movie remains to be seen, but "Birds of Prey" still has a chance to turn its opening-weekend narrative around.
- Read more of Business Insider's coverage of "Birds of Prey"
- Inside the wild stunts and fight sequences of 'Birds of Prey,' which were inspired by 'John Wick,' 'Atomic Blonde,' and Jackie Chan's 'Drunken Master'
- 'Birds of Prey' director Cathy Yan on the challenges of making her first studio movie and the 'bonkers audition tape' that she and Margot Robbie loved
- 'Birds of Prey' disappoints at the box office, bringing in only $33.2 million its opening weekend