Despite plenty of praise from critics and fans, Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) performed badly in the box office. There are a lot of reasons why the film opened to a poor box office reception - being a new DC franchise, the poor reception of Suicide Squad, opening in early February, etc. - but it's still a disappointing blow and one that could lead Hollywood executives to dial down on female-led action movies, which is just wrong.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Margot Robbie-led Birds of Prey had a $33.2 million opening in the US, while it did slightly better on international waters, getting $48 million. Overall, Birds of Prey had a worldwide opening of $81.3 million at an $84.5 million budget (not counting marketing costs, unfortunately). There's a very good chance that this movie will make its money back this week but opening weeks mean a lot to Hollywood and this isn't a good sign.
Birds of Prey now replaces Shazam as the lowest-opening to a DCEU film, though it's not the worst-performing DC movie overall. That still goes to the maligned Jonah Hex, which had a sad $5 million opening.
Here's hoping that audiences give it another chance this week, though we doubt that will be enough for a turnaround. Then again, weirder things have happened, especially in a weird (and sad) year like 2020.
Birds of Prey is now showing in theaters.
Read:Birds of Prey: Black Mask Easter Egg Spotted in Justice League
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