Birds of Prey Box Office Opening Much Lower Than Expected

It looks like the latest film from DC Comics is on track toward an underwhelming box office for its opening weekend, as Birds of Prey is currently tracking to make less than $10 million than initial projections from Warner Bros. Pictures first anticipated. The movie was estimated to make as high as $60 million from analysts, but WB's own projections were more conservative with $45 million. But now those numbers have been slashed even more, as Birds of Prey is currently on track to make between $33 million to $35 million dollars in its opening weekend.

This should come as a disappointment for both Warner Bros. executives and DC fans hoping to see this kickstart a franchise, though there is still a chance it could lead to more similar projects down the line based on how it performs throughout its theatrical run.

Birds of Prey seemed to have a lot of potential for a surprising opening weekend leading into its premiere, as the critical buzz and audience reactions were skewing toward the positive side. So while there's still a chance that word of mouth recommendations start to pick up, Birds of Prey is likely to limp out of its opening weekend with a disappointing haul.

The film is currently sitting with an 83% rating from critics, making it Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score sits with 88%. All in all, the reaction to the film has been overwhelmingly positive, but that isn't driving fans to theaters.

Despite the underwhelming turnout for Birds of Prey in its opening weekend, it's a minor miracle that this film came together in the first place and that Harley Quinn is headlining the team of heroes. Actress Margot Robbie herself admitted that she never thought her version of Harley's popularity would skyrocket after her appearance in Suicide Squad.

"It's so funny because when I signed on to play Harley Quinn, there wasn't a script yet for Suicide Squad," Robbie said. "And all that I was really going off of was a Skype conversation with David Ayer and he had described two scenes he had in his head and I loved the idea of them. They just sounded so cool and bizarre. I really was picturing it as being a much smaller film that was going to get very little attention, especially since it was going to be a squad of people."

Birds of Prey is now playing in theaters.

[h/t THR]