“Birds of Prey” Tops, but Fails to Meet Expectations

By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, DCEU’s Birds of Prey topped the charts, but did that with meager numbers, flying far behind expectations and bereft of an impressive international performance despite strong critical reception. Otherwise, Bad Boys for Life continued its strong performance, ahead of the remarkable 1917 and Dolittle while Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle rounded out the top five.

Topping the box office was DC and WB’s Birds of Prey which earned an estimated 33.3M in North American ticket sales this weekend from a very-wide 4,236 locations, averaging a mere $7,849 per-screen. This is far behind the 50M+ pre-weekend expectations, and even Warner Bros.’ 45M predictions, which is largely disappointing. What’s the kick in the pants is the fact that its critically trashed predecessor, Suicide Squad, opened to a massive 133.6M in 2016, this could be because of the PG-13 rating for the former, and an R-rating for BOP. Also, it ranks as the lowest debut for any DCEU film released, taking that unwanted record from Shazam! (53.5M). This isn’t all gloom and doom, since it carries a modest budget of 84 million, as it needs around 240M to break even, which seems possible.

Internationally, Birds of Prey brought in an estimated 48M from 78 material markets, contributing to an underwhelming global launch of 81.2M, but it will do the trick. Leading the way was a 4.6M debut in Mexico, followed by Russia (4M), the UK (3.9M), Brazil (2.8M), France (2.7M), Australia (2.7M), Indonesia (2.4M), Korea (1.9M), Germany (1.8M), Taiwan (1.5M), Italy (1.4M) and Spain (1.38M). It’s only upcoming release is Japan, where it will open on March 20.

Review wise, critics gave the film some strong reception going into the weekend, while audiences tended to agree. On Sweet and Sour, we gave the flick an excellent 85/100 “sweet”, calling it the “fantabulous, anarchic, f…ing crazy freedom that Ms. Quinn needs”. RottenTomatoes was similar, having it at an approval rating of 81% “Certified Fresh” based on 272 reviews with a consensus of: “With a fresh new perspective, some new friends, and loads of fast-paced action, Birds of Prey captures the anarchic spirit of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn.” Audiences gave it a solid 81% approval on RT, and a good B+ CinemaScore, which could bode well for the long run.

In runner-up we saw Sony’s Bad Boys for Life which grossed another 12M, dropping only 33% from last weekend and capping an impressive 166.3M domestically. The race to the 200M mark is officially on, but how long can this buddy-comedy hold? Overseas, it picked up another 15.8M for an international cume of 170M and a worldwide bout of 336.3M.

Thirdly, Universal’s 1917 generated 9M, which is an excellent performance considering its paltry 5% slide, contributing to 132.5M stateside. The pic added another 15M internationally for a foreign total of 154.8M and a global gross of 287.3M as it will hopefully top 300M by next week.

In fourth place we saw Universal’s Dolittle, which garnered 6.7M, dipping only 13% from last weekend, but despite its impeccable hold, its earnings still sit at only 63.9M after 24 days in release. Internationally, the reboot opened in both the UK and France, which helped it earn 19M foreignly this weekend, for an overseas total of 94.7M and global earnings of 158.6M. The film still has Brazil, Russia, Japan and China to open in.

Rounding out the top five was Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level which generated 5.5M, falling 8% and reaching a massive 298.4M domestically, looking to top 300M this week. Internationally, things are getting quiet as the blockbuster brought in another 3.3M for a foreign total of 470M and a worldwide gross of 768.4M.

Next weekend, we see three new nationwide releases hit theaters. First off, Paramount will release anticipated video-game adaptation Sonic the Hedgehog in 4,100 theaters (40M projections), while Sony’s horror remake Fantasy Island will also be released (15M expectations). Finally, Universal will open their romantic drama The Photograph (10M expectations).

TOP FIVE:

Birds of Prey
Bad Boys for Life
1917
Dolittle (2020)
Jumanji: The Next Level