It’s been a disappointing start to life for the year’s first Comic Book Movie, as Warner Bros’ Margot Robbie led “Birds of Prey” fell below both industry and studio expectations. The film sees Robbie reprise her role as Harley Quinn (who she played in 2016’s “Suicide Squad”). And while this is objectively a far far superior film to Ayer’s 2016 mess, that film did take home over $130M in its opening weekend, whilst Quinn’s new outing, alongside Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress, to name a few, came in around the $33.5M mark domestically. Though it must be added comparing it to “Suicide Squad” must be taken with a pinch of salt considering that film’s ridiculously aggressive marketing and its prime summertime release date, not to mention a more audience-friendly PG-13 rating. Internationally the film took home around $48M, giving it just over an $80M start, a number which apparently equals its budget. So how has this happened? It’s difficult to pin down. As much as some tiny corners of the internet claimed they would boycott the film due to the film not staying true to its source material and some even claiming the characters have had their sex appeal stripped away (absolutely ludicrous), others have made the point that the film’s R-rating may have been a misstep, turning away potential younger audiences that could have been introduced to the vast array of new and interesting characters on display in Cathy Yan’s exciting and energetic film. I believe the film also suffered heavily from lack of marketing, at least when compared to DC’s other properties, especially their mega-successful “Wonder Woman.” I would be amazed if the casual cinemagoer knew the film was being released Friday, and also who was in it and what it was about, from the small pool of people I have spoken to, this does seem to have some legs. As far as its placement on the calendar goes, it’s no secret Warner’s would have seen the success of Fox’s own R-rated gamble “Deadpool” which opened Valentine’s Day 2016 to a $132M opening weekend and hoped to replicate the achievement. However, as underwhelming as it looks, it is entirely possible the film itself will have legs over the coming weeks. Barring next week’s “Sonic the Hedgehog”, the film has a clear run the next month or so to try and cash in on both good word of mouth and solid reviews (81% Rotten Tomatoes, 60 Metacritic). Dropping to second place for the first time in its run is Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life”. The third installment in the franchise hauled in $12M in its fourth weekend, lifting its domestic total to $166M, and although it may fall short of that magical $200M domestic, it’s now $170M international total has it pushing $350M worldwide, streaks ahead of any industry or studio expectations from four weeks ago. Holding very firm in third this week is Universal’s Best Picture front-runner “1917”. The film has undoubtedly cashed in on its favorite status in the lead up to tonight’s ceremony, taking a further $9M for a domestic total that sits at $132.5M. Internationally, Sam Mendes’ war epic moved past $150M this week, meaning any huge Oscar wins tonight could see the film move past the $300M mark globally this time next week. Universal’s film still has one market to open in as well, as it hits Japan next week. In fourth this week with a papering over cracks $6.66M is Universal’s “Dolittle”. With $64M domestic and $94.7M internationally, the film sits just under $160M globally, which (as mentioned every week) is still under the film’s reported budget, meaning losses are on the way for Universal. On the flip side, a film that has performed admirably since its release way back on December 10th is Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level”. The sequel took in $5.5M this week, meaning its domestic tally is now just $2M shy of the $300M mark. Internationally the film has over $470M, meaning its $768M worldwide will be enough to see a third in the franchise. Elsewhere, Lionsgate’s unstoppable original “Knives Out”, looks set to pass $300M worldwide next week, as the film has been boosted by the news the studio is officially moving forward with a sequel to Rian Johnson’s razor-sharp ‘Whodunnit’ starring Daniel Craig as mercurial detective Benoit Blanc. Next week sees a few Valentine’s releases, including Jason Blum and Jeff Wadlow’s horror “Fantasy Island”, Stella Meghie and Universal’s Romantic drama “The Photograph” starring Lakeith Stanfield, and Paramount’s previously pushed back video game adaptation “Sonic the Hedgehog” which was due for release last November before a backlash toward the design of Sonic saw the film be pushed back as its title character underwent a redesign. Let us know what you think of this week’s news!
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