{"id":200230,"date":"2020-02-10T02:34:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T23:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww-vb.mine.nu\/w108\/5-reasons-why-birds-of-prey-didnt-take-flight-at-the-box-office\/"},"modified":"2020-02-10T02:34:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T23:34:08","slug":"5-reasons-why-birds-of-prey-didnt-take-flight-at-the-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/5-reasons-why-birds-of-prey-didnt-take-flight-at-the-box-office\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Why \u2018Birds of Prey\u2019 Didn\u2019t Take Flight at the Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What was supposed to be a weekend that kept January\u2019s brisk box office pace going turned upside down quickly as Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d failed to take flight on its opening weekend. With a $33 million debut, Margot Robbie\u2019s Harley Quinn\u00a0fell well short of the $55 million projections that independent trackers had set this past week.<\/p>\n

Much like \u201cDoctor Sleep,\u201d a Warner Bros. film that got strong reception from its audience but failed to grow that audience enough, \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d did well with those who saw it. Critics gave it a 83% Rotten Tomatoes score while audiences gave it a B+ on CinemaScore and a 4\/5 on Postrak. While that word of mouth may help reduce the film\u2019s drop next weekend, it will now take incredible legs and help from an overseas market hit hard by the coronavirus for this film to do more than break even.<\/p>\n

Hindsight is always 20\/20, but it seems that the obstacles that appeared to be easy hurdles for \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d to clear ended up being much more damaging to the film\u2019s ticket sales than we previously thought. Here are some of those hurdles:<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong> ‘Birds of Prey’ Misfires With $33.7 Million Debut, DC’s Worst Opening in a Decade<\/p>\n

1. Blockbuster buzz vs. Oscar buzz<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fashionable to not care about the Oscars, but it\u2019s possible that \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d might have had trouble gaining word of mouth because of the talk surrounding this year\u2019s awards contenders and Oscar Sunday\u2019s earlier-than-usual date. Not only are the Academy Awards taking place earlier in the year than ever, but this is first time since 2013 that five Best Picture nominees have grossed over $100 million in North America, and the two front-runners, \u201c1917\u201d and \u201cParasite,\u201d are still in theaters.<\/p>\n

While in past years the Oscars has relied on one or two popular contenders like \u201cBlack Panther\u201d to curry interest while only one or two late releases like \u201cThe Revenant\u201d are still major factors in theaters, this year\u2019s field is far more widely known and has had more contenders bringing audiences to theaters and keeping them talking throughout January. That could have split away some moviegoers over the age of 35 from \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d as they were distracted by the awards race and instead bought tickets to whatever Best Picture contenders they haven\u2019t seen yet.<\/p>\n

On paper, there was nothing wrong with the release slot that WB picked out for \u201cBirds of Prey.\u201d Early February has yielded success for them in the past, most notably with \u201cThe Lego Movie\u201d in 2014 and its Batman spinoff in 2017. But it may be possible that instead of getting the usual buildup that these blockbusters get in the final week prior to release, \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d had to share space in the film media and social media conversation with Oscar week, weighing down casual moviegoer awareness and interest.<\/p>\n

If Warner had waited another week to release the film, it might not have had the wide release slate all to itself but still would have provided something unique. Next week\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day releases, which also extend into Presidents\u2019 Day on Monday, include the family focused \u201cSonic the Hedgehog,\u201d the romance \u201cThe Photograph,\u201d and the horror film \u201cFantasy Island.\u201d While it would have been a crowded fit, \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d might have been able to stand out among new releases without having to worry about the Oscars diverting attention.<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong> ‘Birds of Prey’ Producer Sue Kroll on the ‘Big Responsibility’ of Making a Harley Quinn Movie<\/p>\n

2. The R rating<\/strong><\/p>\n

That adage about hindsight really applies here. If there\u2019s one thing Warner Bros. has been really good at lately, it\u2019s defying conventional wisdom about the box office limitations of R-rated films. The two \u201cIt\u201d films have grossed over $1 billion worldwide combined while \u201cJoker\u201d made history last fall as the first film with that rating to hit $1 billion globally on its own. Also, February was the month where the R-rated \u201cDeadpool\u201d made a mint four years ago. Since \u201cBirds of Prey\u201d shares that film\u2019s irreverent sense of humor and snarky narration by its antihero protagonist, there was little reason to believe that it couldn\u2019t have similar success.<\/p>\n

But the CinemaScore demographics show that the R rating may have shut out teen moviegoers that really would have been a strong audience base for this film. While audiences over the age of 25 gave the film a B+, moviegoers under 25 gave the film an A- \u2014 as did those under 18, who only accounted for 14% of the audience.<\/p>\n