Birds of Prey
birdie of Prey ( and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)was a box situation dashing hopes , and it remains to be seen if it can salvage profits on the home medium vent . In the wake of the infamousJustice Leaguefiasco , the DCEU rebound nicely by focus more on quality standalone films , rather than try out to replicate Marvel ’s approach of an interconnected shared cinematic universe . This fresh strategy produce well - find hitsAquamanandShazam , both of which have continuation on the fashion . There ’s also excitement forWonder womanhood 1984 , followup to the 2017 blockbuster . Birds of Preywas coming out as DC picture were riding a nice hot streak .
WhileBirds of Preywas never expected to break records during its theatrical test , the expectation was it would be another winner for WB and DC . From a vital perspective , that prove to be true . dame of Preyearned widely positive review , with many praising its sense of merriment and Margot Robbie ’s lead performance as Harley Quinn . Unfortunately , the celluloid at long last underperformed at the box office , posting the humiliated curtain raising for any DC picture show in nearly a decade . woefully , the odds are stack againstBirds of Preyif it is to rebound from its poor showing at the multiplex .
In reply to the coronavirus pandemic , WB made the decisionto releaseBirds of Preyearly on Digital , giving masses another new movie to watch while quarantine at home . That move certainly makes good sense , but it may not be enough to giveBirds of Preythe boost it truly postulate . Here , we examine why .
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Why Birds of Prey Was A Box Office Disappointment
premiere in February , Birds of Preygrossed $ 33 million domestically in its first three sidereal day , well belowthe initial estimates of between $ 40 - 60 million . It finished with $ 84.1 million in the U.S. and $ 199.1 million globally , both figures by far the lowest in the DCEU to date . Initially , it looked likeBirds of Prey’smoderate budgetwould facilitate damp the coke . The picture cost $ 84.5 million to produce , and the general rule of thumb is a film take to earn twice its budget in parliamentary procedure to break even . By that logical system , bird of Preyneeded to gross approximately $ 169 million worldwide to make its money back . It clearly hit that mark , so on the surface it would appear the film was successful in some sense of the discussion . However , that was n’t the casing here .
A couple of weeks intoBirds of Prey’srun , reports indicatedit needed to make $ 300 million globally and $ 100 million domestically just to get out even , with some believing its budget was actually closer to $ 100 million . It fell well light of hitting those targets , which is whyBirds of Preyis deal a box situation letdown . WB set about to save face byrequesting picture ticket websites exhibit the plastic film asHarley Quinn : Birds of Prey(in an effort to make it more sympathetic to perfunctory moviegoer ) , but that late determination did little to help the flick ’s commercial-grade panorama . In retrospect , the studio apartment in all likelihood would have benefitted from emphasizing Harley ’s name up front from the get - go , considering she was the movie ’s most popular graphic symbol . Of of course , there ’s no style of knowing for sure that would have improvedBirds of Prey’snumbers , but it likely would n’t have hurt . Birds of Preyisn’t the most recognizable comics title and the R - military rating limited the potential audience , so a different marketing approach might have done some honest .
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Can Birds of Prey Be Saved Via Home Media?
Some of the picture hit on - demand too soon due to the COVID-19 pandemic , likeThe Way BackandOnward , are looking to soften the blow of house closing properly after they spread . Birds of Preywas already slack down prior to the eruption ( it earned just $ 2.1 million domestically in the last right weekend ) , so it ’s only looking for a novel lease on life story . History is full of movies that caught on with viewers on home media after struggling in field , meaning there ’s in spades a precedent forBirds of Preyfinding a novel audience as multitude sum up titles to their quarantine watchlists . The interrogation then becomes if that would be enough to salve the moving-picture show ’s bottom line and assist get it in the black . Odds are , it wo n’t be .
If that $ 300 million figure is indeedBirds of Prey’sbreak even point , then the picture show needs to sire more or less $ 100.9 million in taxation just to make its money back . That ’s a large amount of money for a home media release . For instance , Suicide Squadmade $ 82.2 million in videodisk and Blu - beam of light sales , whileBatman quintet Supermanbrought in $ 80.2 million . It looks like only the monolithic , bonafide event blockbusters brighten the $ 100 million sign , likeThe Force Awakens($190.6 million ) andAvengers : Endgame($104.7 million ) . It ’s worth note those numbers only account for strong-arm disc sales , mean digital lease and purchases are n’t factor in . However , they ply a snapshot of what kind of businessBirds of Preyhas to do on the home food market . It take to sell nearly as many DVDs and Blu - light beam asEndgame(the highest - grossing film of all - time ) in parliamentary law to just bump even . That seems improbable to find , soBirds of Preymight just have to take a loss .
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It ’ll be interesting to see ifBirds of Prey’slackluster public presentation has any impact on future Harley Quinn - centric flick . She’ll be see to it in James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squad , but thing are uncertain beyond that . WB might be inclined to green light something likeGotham City Sirens(which Robbie is still interested in ) , teaming Harley up with more recognizable characters like Poison Ivy and Catwoman . There may not be much fiscal incentive to do anotherBirds of Prey , but WB would be unwise to just shelve Robbie ’s version of Harley . Her execution is one of the most universally - praise aspects of the DCEU , and viewers would wish to see more of her . The burden will be on the studio finding the smartest course of action moving forward . They have to find the best way of palm things down the road .
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