Birds of Prey is the top movie at the box office in its opening weekend,Love Conquest with $33.3 million in U.S. ticket sales.
That's not a huge opening, let's be clear. Birds of Preydidn't do Marvel numbers. Hell, it didn't even do DC numbers. For those keeping track at home, $33.7 million is the lowest opening weekend out of any DC Extended Universe release so far.
It's not all bad news, though. I've seen plenty of headlines and social media chatter declaring Birds of Preya "failure" and a "box office bust." But it's important to remember when we're looking at box office figures that these things don't happen in a vacuum.
For starters, Birds of Preyis an R-rated movie. That MPAA rating immediately cuts down its potential audience – and box office – since it's a no-go for families on the hunt for a weekend trip to the movies. Even without much in the way of competition during its opening weekend, the rating surely kept some of the audience at home.
It's also a February release. The opening months of the year are typically a quiet time at the movies. We've seen that paradigm shift in recent years, though that applies more to March; as big studios plan a greater number of annual blockbusters, the "spring" season of movie releases has gotten earlier.
In fact, if we look purely at R-rated movies released in February, Birds of Preyis a Top 15 opening weekend. It comes in at #14, just behind Get Out($33.4 million) and just ahead of The Wolfman($31.5 million). Even if we remove the rating from consideration, Birds of Prey's opening weekend is the 28th highest of all time for February.
I also haven't mentioned foreign ticket sales. The movie opened with $48 million from non-U.S. audiences. It's not clear at the time of this writing which territories are covered in that number or how the split shakes out. But with a global box office take of just over $80 million, Birds of Preyis very close to making more than its reported $84.5 million budget. (Yes, a movie costs the studio far more than its reported budget, which doesn't typically account for marketing and publicity expenses.)
I'm not here trying to make a case that $33.5 million is a stellar opening weekend performance. But I do know there are those out there in the wilds of the internet who are rooting against Birds of Preyfor petty personal reasons that aren't worth discussing. That attitude, largely cultivated by a small-but-loud faction of social media trolls, contributes to an overall narrative of failure.
SEE ALSO: Harley Quinn takes center stage in fun but messy 'Birds of Prey'That's not to say every report of the movie's poor performance is a conscious embrace bad faith attacks on Birds of Prey. But that's the insidious nature of trolling at work. People who write for the internet, myself included, end up framing the movie's release against a narrative that doesn't have much basis in reality.
Here are the facts: Birds of Preymade less than expected in the U.S. during its first three days in theaters. But its total ticket sales still come out to almost as much as the movie cost to make.
Whether or not it will be profitable, and separately, a boost for the DCEU, remains to be seen. But the apparent agreement between critics and audiences that yes, this is an entertaining movie, says a whole lot more to me about the impact of Birds of Preyis having than any armchair box office analysis, including what you're reading right now.
UPDATE: Feb. 9, 2020, 3:08 p.m. EST An earlier version of this story didn't provide enough context for what a movie's reported budget actually represents. That's been corrected.
The Amazon Book Sale is coming April 23 through 28
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Comic Voice: An Interview with Christina Nichol
The Lean, Mean, Star
Best earbuds deal: Save 20% on Soundcore Sport X20 by Anker
Read Everywhere with The Paris Review and LRB
The Morning News Roundup for August 13, 2014
Hollywood sign erected in Wrexham and locals think Ryan Reynolds is responsible
NYT mini crossword answers for May 12, 2025
Read Everywhere by The Paris Review
Shop the Shark FlexStyle for 20% off at Amazon
Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max may come a month later than expected
A Lack of Chemistry
What does endemic mean for COVID?
New MIT report reveals energy costs of AI tools like ChatGPT
'And Just Like That...', we're getting Season 3
Tinder to make ID verification available worldwide
Emily Brontë’s Boring Birthday
WhatsApp launches 'Advanced Chat Privacy' to protect sensitive conversations
Fitbit announces its new Charge 5 fitness tracker
Guy films brilliant ad to auction off his girlfriend's used car, but it worked too wellSia responds to creeper selling her nudes by giving it awaySnap lost $40 million on SpectaclesRyan Reynolds wonders what a Disney 'Deadpool' would look like, gets glorious responseIkea launches online shopping in Southeast Asia, starting with SingaporeDevastated teens lose their streaks after Snapchat goes downGoogle charted air pollution street by street in parts of CaliforniaTwitter allows all users to tweet 280 characters'Stranger Things' almost killed off ElevenTiffany & Co. is selling a $9,000 ball of yarn and everything is ridiculousTiffany & Co. is selling a $9,000 ball of yarn and everything is ridiculousThanksgiving turkey tips from the experts at Butterball's Talk LineYoung bystander offers New York City Marathon runners sound advice about bowel movementsAnimoji Karaoke is the best thing about the iPhone X, and here are our favoritesHere's the best and fastest way to open the app switcher on iPhone XPink prosecco cheese is a true millennial dreamMorrissey fans angry the singer canceled concert because it was coldScientists building a huge new telescope have reached a critical phaseIf Disney buys Fox, an Avengers, XWaymo is now testing fully self The Leslie Jones Winter Olympics live How to watch Apple's fall event Android 12 now has a possible release date. Pixel 6 might not be far behind. Indian movie 'Pad Man' tells a true story to fight menstrual stigma 'Mogul Mowgli' is Riz Ahmed's soul laid bare: Review The real star of the Winter Olympics is Reese Witherspoon Update your iPhone now to fix a major security flaw How to create an IGTV series Snowboarder recovers from horrific accident to win Olympic medal This smart cat shows off his skills with his favorite game Zendaya shares ingenious way she copes with stress 14 best tweets of the week, including frong, floor poisoning, and wings dinner Twitter has started showing which accounts are run by bots How to create Instagram Highlights Astronomers see Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster on its trip in deep space Dad comes up with the ultimate life hack for clipping his dog's nails How to free up storage on iPhone Campy and creepy, HBO Max's 'Malignant' is a wicked surprise: Review A couple that got together over Twitter just got engaged the same way Apple Watch 8 might have a temperature sensor