Warner Bros. elected to give the film to director Cathy Yan, who had only one prior motion picture on her resume, and writer Christina Hodson (“Bumblebee”). With the Sonic movie racing into cinemas, Birds looks set to drop to second place at the box-office, with an estimated weekend of $16 million – down 50% on its opening. Well, despite its positive reviews and a CinemaScore of B+, Birds of Prey has not seemingly held the world’s attention like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or even Shazam. Instead it took in far less, opening with only $33 million. A flawless collaboration between two up-and-coming and very powerful artists, “Diamonds” boasts a fun danceable chorus by Normani and Megan Thee Stallion’s confident verses. Visit our corporate site. So the messaging is in place, but did that actually drive men away from seeing the film? In this latest Warner Bros. release of a DC Comics property, Margot Robbie reprised her popular role of Harley Quinn, the emotionally damaged villainess she originally played in the mess-of-a-film “Suicide Squad.” Despite the blatant fiasco of that film, Robbie was clearly the bright spot, and her character deservedly received her own film. Some were confused by Quinn’s presence, while others felt she was in a reduced role. Including marketing, that number jumps up, and Variety claims that the break-even mark for the Margot Robbie vehicle is between $250 million and $300 million. Any harsh criticisms were surely drowned out by praise. Has Margot Robbie’s latest anti-villain team-up really been a flop, despite seemingly grossing back it’s budget in just one week? While the film's defenders say sexism is to blame for the movie's shortcomings, the metrics simply don't support this claim. The biggest stumbling block, however, may have been the content. So there’s still some way to go. The first issue is the basic fact that the movie content was muddled. NY 10036. Genre-wise, the singles span hip-hop, pop, alternative rock, and rap. Just to add to the testosterone dysphoria, the superhero culture site Comic Book Resources attributed some of the failure to the fact that male movie reviewers were unfairly harsh in their criticism of the film. Another highlight from the album, “Experiment on Me” by Halsey, is unlike any other work by the singer. It is very finely written, there is in the script a real look on misogyny. The album cover for "Birds of Prey: The Album. But despite the drastic differences amid the artists on the album, the cohesive order of the tracklist allowed each song to flow perfectly into the next in terms of style, genre, and lyrical content. Perhaps the quasi-Suicide Squad sequel will surprise everyone and have a killer second weekend, and word of mouth could spread, but it’s looking likely Warner Bros. are going to stay disappointed by the results of Harley’s romp. As Young described it, an early scene of the film shows McGregor’s character to be sadistic. The release of a new movie Friday, “Birds of Prey,” thrust this lesson into the spotlight when the film didn’t do as well as expected — and, of course, men were to blame. Want to keep up with breaking news? While Conway surmised that teenaged boys were not motivated to go to the film, he failed to measure that most could not go. Birds O’ Prey Wrestling Club: The Birds O’ Prey Wrestling Club is an official USA Wrestling Sanctioned Wrestling Club that provides off-season training and competition opportunities for current 7th – 12th graders - Middle schoolers in our program are welcome (6th graders on an approved exception basis). The release date may have also been problematic. The artists featured on the soundtrack exhibit a broad range of musical genres and styles. In this weekend’s “BOP,” as the hip feminists refer to “Birds of Prey,” a similar agenda was at play. While the charge by the film’s defenders of sexism being the ruination of its success seems a natural explanation, the metrics do not support their claim. The next song, “So Thick” by producer Whipped Cream featuring Baby Goth, embodies self-sufficiency, hard work, and confidence, making it the perfect tune to precede “Diamonds” by Megan Thee Stallion and Normani. Thanks largely to the care put into choosing and ordering its songs, “Birds of Prey: The Album” ends up near perfect — the only negative to the album is that the songs simply are not long enough. Nearly four years after the release of its predecessor, “Suicide Squad,” the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe, “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” hit theaters on Feb. 7. If only men were not such an infantile sex, they could open themselves up to the possibilities of women being strong characters on screen, goes the narrative. It turns out this film’s failure cannot be attributed to toxic sexism, but rather mostly to studio decisions and the development of the property in general. Indeed, even Warner Bros. has seemingly admitted as much, changing the movie’s name online to optimise search engine results – it’s now Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and not Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Focusing on the teen boys is also a misfire; Harley Quinn is very popular with girls because of the TV animated series that features her. They tear men down and portray them as avaricious beings in order to venerate the female characters. Looking at the five singles released ahead of the album, one might not have known what to expect from the soundtrack. Besides the common refrain that men are to blame for the film flop, “Birds of Prey” criticisms possessed another commonality: no evidence to support them. It is this combination that makes “Diamonds” one of the standout songs on “Birds of Prey: The Album” — a near impossible feat on an album where every song is both different from the last and just as good. But what’s the truth? When feminists make irrational, emotion-based measurements of an industry, however, they’re unlikely to listen to any amount of statistical analysis — just like the studios continuing to push the feminist product that consistently fails to deliver. So absent sexist excuses, what went wrong? That built-in audience was all but cut out of attending the film. “BOP” is rated R, so the under-18 crowd was largely prevented from attending. The female-power lecturing was apparent, as Ewan McGregor, who plays Black Mask in “Birds of Prey,” described: What interested me with Birds of Prey is that it’s a feminist film. We covered much of this on the last episode of “Disasters In The Making.” Paul Young, from Screen Rant, saw a preview of the film and noted that feminists were carrying out their message primarily through misandry. Audience measurements showed that more than half of the film’s attendees were males, at 54 percent. Receive news and offers from our other brands? Claims that male entertainment writers were unfairly dumping on the film also fail to land, as Rotten Tomatoes sports a very strong 80 percent, with a matching audience score. Thank you for signing up to GamesRadar+. Feminists didn’t hold back in accusing misogyny. It’s funny what kind of standards everyone holds women-centric films to, and everything has to be “perfect” but dude-bro movies can lack good actors, story lines and logic and still be praised. © Exit metrics showed that the 17-and-under audience was a paltry 9 percent. 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Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. You will receive a verification email shortly. We analyse the numbers to see whether Birds of Prey has actually failed to fly at the box-office. It was men’s fault. Birds of Prey – which we’ll be calling the movie in this piece – took $33.2 million over its opening weekend in the United States. Brad Slager has written for a number of publications, such as Movieline, Breitbart's Big Hollywood, Pocket Full of Liberty, and ComicBookMovie.com. This is evidenced by the fact that Warner Bros. later retitled the film “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.”. That’s a bigger dip than Aquaman (29%) and Wonder Woman (45%), but nothing compared to Batman v Superman (69%) and Suicide Squad (67%). Of course, despite the colourful superhero flick having almost made $100 million worldwide as of writing, that still doesn’t cover the amount Warner Bros. has spent on Birds of Prey. And those film casualties were sure to be blamed on men. A predictable pattern emerged across numerous genres: whenever a movie was touted as a female message picture, it was sure to be DOA in theaters. Harvard Law School Makes Online Zero-L Course Free for All U.S. Law Schools Due to Coronavirus, For Kennedy School Fellows, Epstein-Linked Donors Present a Moral Dilemma, Tenants Grapple with High Rents and Local Turnover at Asana-Owned Properties, In April, Theft Surged as Cambridge Residents Stayed at Home, The History of Harvard's Commencement, Explained. From the start, “Birds of Prey: The Album” hits the ground running. Copyright © 2020 The Federalist, a wholly independent division of FDRLST Media, All Rights Reserved. I look after all the Total Film and SFX articles that end up on the website, ESPN Plus costs, bundle prices, and PPV events explained: get UFC, NHL, MLB, and more for less, The best headphones 2020: the finest audio options compared, The best Xbox One external hard drives for 2020. Despite these initial assumptions, the seemingly-random array of credited artists featured, and any preconceived notions of the soundtrack that stem from reviews of the film, “Birds of Prey: The Album” accomplishes the unexpected. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, There was a problem. The first problem they run into: Men did in fact turn out to see the film. When you consider that Birds of Prey also came with the lowest budget of any DC movie yet – an estimated $82 million, though Variety notes that other studios believe it sits at around $100 million. Hollywood has yet to learn its lesson that audiences want to be entertained, not lectured. In line with the film’s emphasis on empowering women and putting their stories at the forefront, “Birds of Prey: The Album” features only women vocalists. Now, let’s look at Birds of Prey’s second weekend estimates. At least, that’s according to a broad number of analysts who have gone over the numbers. Box Office Data Prove It Wasn’t Men Who Tanked ‘Birds Of Prey’. But Robbie deserved better than “Birds of Prey.”. With that in mind, it makes sense that Birds of Prey would come out slightly below the other movies in the series. The blatant sexism around the conversations about #BirdsOfPrey is wild. Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Black Canary)’s rendition of James Brown's “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” broadcasts Smollett-Bell’s vocal range and is rife with emotion. As the studio grappled with what transpired and how this assured hit went sideways, some in media activist circles had little trouble coming up with a cause. This weekend was the Academy Awards, a notoriously slower weekend in theaters, but one that especially hit home — film marketers recognize females do not go to theaters the Sunday of the Oscars. This film centered on Harley Quinn but was named after her support staff, who were not so prominently featured. The resulting album is the perfect example of an ambitious collaboration by various artists in different genres done right. The answer is a flat no. And I think we need that, we need to be more aware of how we behave with the opposite sex. Worldwide, Birds of Prey soared slightly higher, to just over $80 million. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! What does this all mean? For more social commentary, and the occasional buzz-tweeting of bad DVDs, you can follow him on Twitter @martinishark. Here’s my controversial take (don’t hate me): the movie didn’t pull teenage boys because Margot Robbie didn’t want Harley Quinn to be sexualized as she was in SS.”. The creators fully established his villain credentials then, but later, they portrayed him as even more vile when he publicly degrades an innocent woman. [ME#30] Birds of Prey Steelbook (Lenticular Full Slip) Sold Out [ME#30] Birds of Prey Steelbook (Double Lenticular Full Slip) Quick View Sold Out [ME#30] Birds of Prey Steelbook (Double Lenticular Full Slip) Sold Out [ME#27] Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Steelbook (One Click) Birds of Prey has been in cinemas for one week, yet the narrative surrounding the movie seems to be set in stone – it’s a box-office disappointment. With lyrics about “kicking ass,” strong beats, echoey and screamo vocals, and strong hip-hop and rock influences, “Danger” is one of the best songs on “Birds of Prey: The Album.” Much like “Boss Bitch,” the only downside to “Danger” is that the song is not longer. Let’s have a closer look at the numbers. That’s unfortunately the worst opening weekend for a DC Extended Universe movie yet, lower than Shazam’s $53.5 million and much below Suicide Squad’s $133.6 million. I'm the Entertainment Editor over here at GamesRadar+, bringing you all the latest movie and TV news, reviews, and features. The next song, “Danger” by Jucee Froot, is one of the more hardcore tracks on the LP. GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Tracking the film ahead of release, industry experts expected it to do a healthy business, predicting it would earn at least $50 million on the opening weekend. The range of styles across the singles made the final album seem as if it was going to be disjointed, choppy, and all-around too much. Coinciding with the release of the movie, Atlantic Records dropped “Birds of Prey: The Album.” With a tracklist featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey, Doja Cat, and the Black Canary herself, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, the soundtrack — like the movie — initially seems all over the place. Comic book and movie legend Gerry Conway also weighed in on the film’s demise, saying, “I’m so disappointed by ‘Birds of Prey’ box office and what it says about the male audience for superhero films. Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch” opens the album with two minutes and fourteen seconds of fun beats, the rapper’s signature flows, and uplifting lyrics to make anyone feel like a badass — or a boss bitch. “Birds of Prey: The Album” also includes two covers of classic songs. ". New York, The closing track on the album, ADONA’s haunting cover of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” is perfectly eerie, sensual, and nothing like the original while still paying adequate tribute to Benatar’s hit. 'Nothing good is born from lies. With a heavy guitar, a steady beat, and screamo-style vocals, “Experiment on Me” works well in the context of the album and exhibits Halsey’s versatility as an artist. We need to be taught to change. Subscribe to our email newsletter. —Staff writer Annie Harrigan can be reached at annie.harrigan@thecrimson.com. Please refresh the page and try again. The release of a new movie Friday, “Birds of Prey,” thrust this lesson into the spotlight when the film didn’t do as well as expected — and, of course, men were to blame. “Birds Of Prey” follows a trend I noted to be in full swing throughout 2019,:the failure of films championed as feminist “message” pictures. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? “Birds of Prey: The Album” also includes two covers of classic songs. Birds of Prey has been in cinemas for one week, yet the narrative surrounding the movie seems to be set in stone – it’s a box-office disappointment. With its dramatic instrumentation and ominous vocals, ADONA’s take on a well-known song is a risky move that paid off — this version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” was made to be on the soundtrack of a superhero movie and remains the perfect way to wrap up an incredible album. And greatness is not what you think' - Diana Prince 'You're not selfish for wanting to be treated well' - Jason Momoa