To be completely honest, I wasn’t quite sure I’d enjoy Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) nearly as much as I did. The poor costuming choices cast doubt over the minds of myself and countless others going into the movie’s debut, yet I walked out of the theater feeling highly satisfied.
But perhaps it was that same doubt – or maybe just overall disinterest – which prevented other moviegoers from following my lead. In case you hadn’t heard, the Cathy Yan-directed picture raked in only $33.3 million during its opening weekend – and that’s a real shame.
Due to this unfortunate flopping, Warner Bros. has instructed theaters across the United States to alter the flick’s title, thereby changing it from Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. AMC, Regal and Cinemark have each complied, yet Fandango has yet to update at the time of this writing.
As you can no doubt surmise, this is in an effort to refocus marketing on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Still, it could be argued this new coat of paint is redundant, since so many posters promoting this film prominently centered on the Clown Princess of Crime, with the rest of the cast either off in the background or shrunken down to the point they were unrecognizable upon first glance.
Of course, this shift may warrant a closer examination, but all we can do is hope that positive word of mouth inspires others to venture to their local multiplex this weekend. All that aside, I’m guessing the original title will still be applied to the home video release, but you never know. If the change carries over in that sense, then the title card in the feature film itself will have to be altered.
Do yourself a favor and go see Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (or whatever you want to call it) as soon as you get the chance. You might find yourself having a good time.
