Why the Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey Title Change Is a Good Idea

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is just a few days into its theatrical run, but the film is already kicking up a conversation in a wide array of ways. The film was “Certified Fresh” by critics and has received an outpouring of love from audience members, but the narrative around the film’s box office seemed to suggest otherwise. Despite Birds of Prey making back nearly all of its $85 million budget in its opening weekend, some have been quick to refer to the small box office numbers as a sign of failure, and have wondered how to potentially fix the situation. On Monday night, things got confused even further, when outlets (including our own) reported that Warner Bros had changed the film’s title to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey on multiple movie ticket platforms.

The notion of Birds of Prey “changing its title” quickly led to confusion on social media, especially since the film is already days into its release (and the full title is featured throughout the film itself). It has since been confirmed that the move is not an all-encompassing change to the film’s title in every official context, but is just a way to make it easier for fans to search for and buy tickets.

Is the change confusing? Yes. But it’s a relatively small one — and one that could ultimately (hopefully) work in Birds of Prey‘s favor.

From the second the film was put into development, it was clear that Margot Robbie and those at DC wanted to turn a potential Harley Quinn spinoff movie into something new and original. Robbie repeated said that she didn’t want to spinoff her Suicide Squad character into a completely solo movie, both because Harley works best with an ensemble around her and because she wanted an avenue for other DC Comics heroines (particularly, ones that aren’t yet household names) to show up on the big screen. Even though the film’s full title is a bit of a mouthful, it’s worked on a sense of having your cake and eating it too – honoring the legacy that the Birds of Prey have had in the comics, while also acknowledging Harley’s cartoony, character-driven role in the overall plot. (It also carried on the sporadic trend of long movie titles, something that Robbie has expressed being a fan of.)

The only problem is that movie theater marquees and online ticket platforms and Twitter hashtags realistically don’t have enough characters to write out Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) in its entirety. While the title being referred to offhand as just “Birds of Prey” (something that, by the way, is definitely going to continue even after this change) is a surreal and earned moment for many DC fans, it’s still a property that general audiences don’t necessarily know about yet.

Sure, the same could have been said for Suicide Squad four years ago, but the film benefitted from featuring Batman, The Joker, and Will Smith’s Deadshot in a lot of its marketing. Given the fact that Squad went on to make nearly $750 million worldwide, it’s safe to say that a good chunk of the moviegoing population probably saw Robbie’s first portrayal of Harley, and would realistically want to follow her on her future endeavors. But they might not necessarily know that they currently have the opportunity to, if they are the type of media consumer who isn’t constantly plugged in on the film’s critical buzz and social media chatter.

TV and social media spots for Birds of Prey have already been taking the approach of this new “title” for weeks, with voice-over and title cards that proclaim “Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey“. Now, it’s just a little bit easier for moviegoers to find tickets or look at a marquee with essentially that same information, in a way that can be essentially uniform across various theater chains.

If the overwhelmingly positive critical and fan response from those who have seen the film are any indication, Birds of Prey succeeded in its task of introducing new female heroes to the big screen. Audiences are falling in love with iconic comic characters like Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya, and are (rightfully) championing spinoffs or sequels surrounding them. With this small title change – which, at the end of the day, has no bearing on the quality or composition of the film itself – there’s a good chance that more people will join in on that love.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) – or Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey – is in theaters now. Other upcoming DC movies include Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5th, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, Black Adam on December 22, 2021, Shazam! 2 on April 1, 2022, The Flash on July 1, 2022, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.