Although it had some positive reviews going for it, 'Birds of Prey' had its wings clipped on its opening weekend at the box office.
Figures tallied over the weekend place 'Birds of Prey' at $79.5 million globally, with $33 million being made up in the US box office. This places 'Birds of Prey' down as the lowest opening for a DCEU entry.
Per the New York Times, Warner Bros. had hoped 'Birds of Prey' would make similar money to 'Joker', expecting an opening weekend in the US of around $50 million. When you compare that to 'Suicide Squad', the contrast is a bit more stark. On its opening weekend in the US, 'Suicide Squad' made $133 million with a global take of $325 million. Not only that, 'Suicide Squad' ended its box office run at $746 million.
It's not all bad news, however. For one, 'Birds of Prey' had a production budget of just over $84 million, while 'Suicide Squad' cost over double that - $175 million. Not only that, the largely positive reviews for 'Birds of Prey' will likely be of some comfort, compared to how trounced 'Suicide Squad' was on its release.
Given all this, however, the question is still up in the air if there's a sequel to 'Birds of Prey' in the works, and whether there's an appetite from audiences for it. It may just be that there's blockbuster fatigue, and early February usually tends to be something of a slack month at cinemas.
'Birds of Prey' is currently in Irish cinemas.
We reviewed the superhero outing in 'The Filum Show' podcast - subscribe now.
