Anna Daniels
Birds of Prey may have topped the box office last weekend, but it opened far lower than box office analysts predicted. Even the expectations from Warner Bros. Pictures were nearly $13 million higher than what the movie actually earned. And it sounds like the studio may have figured out what part of the problem is: the title.
After being marketed as simply Birds of Prey, and occasionally by the comically longer title Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the new title spotted through a couple major movie theater chain ticketing sites and apps is now Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Clearly the hope is that putting the name of the character played by Margot Robbie front and center will bring in audiences less seasoned with DC Comics girl gang known as Birds of Prey.
ComicBook.com noticed the Birds of Prey title change through both Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres, and ScreenRant confirmed it was at the request of the studio. Here are images of the change seen below on both the AMC Theatres website and in the mobile app:
However, at the time of this writing, the title has yet to be changed on online ticketing outlets such as Fandango and Atom Tickets. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that changed came this week, as well as some new marketing materials with the new title as well. As for whether or not the title within the movie will be changed, we’re not sure, but that could prove to be too much to pull off on short notice.
Birds of Prey wasn’t a box office bomb last weekend, but Warner Bros. was clearly hoping the movie would open a little bigger than $33.25 million. After all, that was the worst opening for a modern DC Comics movie to date, and it didn’t even crack the Top 50 superhero opening weekends of all-time.
The good news is the movie has been receiving positive reviews from critics and general audiences, currently sitting with 81% from both critics and fans on Rotten Tomatoes. So hopefully word of mouth and some minor adjustments to the movie’s marketing campaign will help get some more eyes on this movie.
If these new efforts from the studio don’t create an uptick or longer legs for Birds of Prey, then maybe it’s the R-rating or disappointing track record for recent DC Comics movies (that aren’t Joker) keeping audiences away. Only time will tell.
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