By the time
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) nears its end, Huntress and Black Canary are rocking familiar comic book-inspired costumes. However, their time on screen is all too brief and with the movie underperforming at the box office, it's hard to say whether we'll get to see more of them in action down the line.
Now, though, a photo of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress has been revealed and she looks awesome wearing that mask. It's honestly a shame Warner Bros. didn't think to release photos like this before
Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (as it's now known on ticket websites) was released, as that would have generated a lot of excitement among fans.
It's going to be interesting to see how the DC Comics adaptation fares over President's Day Weekend as it faces off with
Sonic the Hedgehog. The review embargo for that movie hasn't lifted yet, but TV spots have started surfacing on YouTube touting an "A" CinemaScore and praise from a number of outlets. As a result, it could pose a serious threat to this girl gang.
Check out the photo of Winstead suited up below:
Why didn't Birds of Prey live up to box office expectations?
Hit the "Next" button below for some possible answers!
An Underwhelming Marketing Campaign
If you weren't overly excited for
Birds of Prey leading up to its release in theaters last week, you weren't alone. The movie's marketing campaign underwhelmed from the start, and while we got plenty of unique posters, the first "teaser" was a random assortment of clips showing the cast in costume and the actual trailer didn't arrive until four months ago!
The trades have reported that reshoots following negative reactions at test screenings left Warner Bros.' marketing team with very little to work with, hence why
Birds of Prey didn't have a presence at last year's Comic-Con. Looking at the footage that's been released, that actually makes sense as it all feels somewhat disjointed and fails to really get across what the movie is about.
That's emphasized by the fact that Warner Bros. ended up showing the ending of the movie in various TV spots, while big reveals like Huntress and Black Canary in costume were briefly glimpsed rather than being released as breaking news online with official promo shots you have to believe would have generated a lot of press online. Honestly, it's no wonder moviegoers didn't flock to this one.
It's Not Really A Birds Of Prey Movie
This is definitely a key issue. "Birds of Prey" doesn't mean much to regular moviegoers, and comic book fans figured out fairly early on that it wasn't actually a
Birds of Prey movie. Instead, it was a Harley Quinn movie where those characters played a supporting role and, after watching it, it's not unfair to say that they only really make glorified cameo appearances during this R-Rated adventure.
"Harley Quinn" is a recognisable brand after
Suicide Squad, though, and while her name was included in the title, calling the film
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) was only ever really a gimmick and not something the mainstream media used while talking about the film.
People may have figured out that this was some sort of continuation of the character's story after David Ayer's critically panned movie, but four years is a long time and reminding them of that would have been no bad thing. Instead, it was billed as something else entirely and with no big name characters like Batgirl or Poison Ivy, it seems the movie simply passed casual fans by.
It Didn't Connect With Comic Book Fans
Comic book fans can be a tricky bunch to please at the best of times, but it felt like there's been a disconnect between this film and fans from the start. As we mentioned, they knew from the beginning that this wasn't the movie the title promised, and the lack of interest that seemingly resulted in means covering a film like this one just isn't a priority for websites.
There's a reason why a site like Vanity Fair now covers superhero movies and
Star Wars, and why the trades chase down casting scoops for the latest Marvel and DC releases more than any other genre. Comic book fans bring in clicks and with
Birds of Prey not generating a huge amount of hype due to an apparent lack of faithfulness to the source material, it's been somewhat overlooked.
Then, there is, of course, that certain group of "fans" who just have zero interest in supporting a movie with female leads. They don't like the fact that a comic book adaptation is putting the spotlight on female empowerment and feel "alienated" because it's not a movie being made just for them. However, Captain Marvel still grossed over $1 billion, so their role here was likely minimal.
Harley Quinn Isn't As Popular As Warner Bros. Thought
Suicide Squad was a hit despite negative reviews, but it had Will Smith in a leading role, Oscar-winner Jared Leto bringing The Joker back to the big screen for the first time since 2008, and some killer trailers which made it look quite a bit better than it actually was. Yes, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was a breakout character but was she popular enough to justify her own film?
She'd only made a single appearance on screen before
Birds of Prey and it's hard to escape the feeling that this movie would have been better off had it been released after James Gunn's
The Suicide Squad. Robbie is perfect as this character and does a phenomenal job here, but the apparent standalone nature of the DCEU probably didn't end up helping matters either.
With no Joker (robbing moviegoers of the chance to see the breakup which serves as the premise of this entire spinoff) and little in the way of teases for what comes next - there's not even a real post-credits scene - it may be hard for a lot of people to get psyched about what feels like a somewhat random addition to this shared world, and Harley isn't a big enough star to counter that.
Who Was The Target Audience Anyway?
This also can't have helped those opening numbers. With an R-Rating,
Birds of Prey was clearly looking to attract an adult audience but Warner Bros. seemingly missed out on the huge number of young and teenage girls who love Harley Quinn and who would have no doubt loved to root for a female team of anti-heroes. Unfortunately, they just weren't old enough to buy a ticket!
There's also no escaping the fact that every male character in the movie is a pretty terrible person, and while that really shouldn't ruin your enjoyment (it's certainly not "anti-man" as some have claimed), there are bound to be a lot of guys who come out of this and don't particularly feel like telling their friends how great it is because they can't really see past that.
Throw in the fact that it boasts an incredibly unique tone and a story structure which is occasionally hard to follow, and word of mouth over the weekend may have also suffered. After all,
Birds of Prey received a somewhat disappointing "B+" CinemaScore and it really does feel like Warner Bros. dropped the ball in finding a way to get audiences to connect to these characters.