What happened to Birds Of Prey?
Honestly, what went wrong here? The film opened at number one this weekend but it brought in only $33,250,000. That’s well below of expectations. Even conservative estimates pictured the film’s opening weekend at around $50 million. And it seemed like the movie would make that. The reviews were strong, the marketing was pretty solid, the Harley Quinn brand is still popular. But now we are looking at this opening number and there are a lot of people scratching their heads. Where did things go off-course?
You can’t blame the quality of the product, that’s for sure. It seems that WB did the right thing and hired the right people to make this movie and they delivered. Like I said, critics and audiences like the film, it makes Suicide Squad feel like a bad dream. So let’s not blame director Cathy Yan or her crew for putting a bad film together. And, like I said, marketing for the picture was solid. It got a lot of play on TV and in theaters and the promos did a good job at showcasing the film’s personality and style. So let’s mark that one off the list of possible culprits as well.
Honestly I think the failure of Birds Of Prey has to do with one of its strongest features: its R rating. Warner Bros was so hyped on the idea of an R-rated Harley Quinn movie after the success of Deadpool and then, later, Joker. The R-rated comic book film was in — especially if it starred an anti-hero with a wicked mouth. But let’s be honest: Harley Quinn’s audience base consists of young women, mostly teenaged girls. An R rating might play well with Deadpool fans but it won’t really help Harley Quinn aficionados. I think the inability for the film to play for a younger crowd really hurt. No, I don’t think that WB and others should do away with the R-rated superhero film. I think these movies should be made for both kids and adults. But I do believe they should temper expectations for films like Birds Of Prey. They’re not all going to be hits like Logan or other movies aimed at grown-ups. We can’t assume that any film based on a comic book is going to be a massive hit, especially if it’s taking risks.
It’s a damn shame that Birds Of Prey isn’t doing well but it does have a chance to stick around for awhile and next weekend’s Valentine’s Day may help put a few more asses in seats. But the reality is that this is a swing-and-a-miss for DC and WB after they started to regain hope in their slate of comic book adaptations. I wouldn’t be too worried because they’re still on the right track, especially critically. But this is going to sting a bit.
Elsewhere on the chart, we see a bunch of returning champions. The Oscars are tonight and multiple nominees populate the top ten, including 1917 doing wonderfully at number three (its grand total stands at $132,000,000), Little Women finally crossing the $100 million mark at number nine and The Little Engine That Could also known as Knives Out at number eight. Knives Out is such a success story. The movie just doesn’t stop. It’s been around for 11 weeks and it’s still on the chart. Last week the movie actually dropped off the top ten and was number 11 but it bounced back this weekend, probably due to the announcement of a forthcoming sequel and wonderful word-of-mouth. You rarely see something like that happen in this day and age. Knives Out is a damn anomaly.
Jumanji: The Next Level is another film that deserves special praise. Here it is at number five after nine weeks. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is about to exit the top ten after its eighth week. Yes, Star Wars has done a lot more business than Jumanji but that’s still an incredible feat for the Dwayne Johnson action film. A film just doesn’t stay in the top five as long as Jumanji has.
Next weekend is pretty crowded. We have Sonic The Hedgehog, The Photograph, Fantasy Island and Downhill all attempting to win over movie-going lovers on V-Day. I’d bet that Sonic comes out on top because nothing is more romantic than being dragged to see a kid’s movie with your children instead of going out for a fancy dinner with your spouse.
