Birds of Prey Director Admits Disappointment Over Box Office Narrative
Birds of Prey director, Cathy Yan, expresses her disappointment over the narrative that came about from the film's lackluster box office performance.
Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) director, Cathy Yan, expresses her disappointment at the narrative surrounding the film's box office performance. Releasing earlier this year when movie theaters were still open for business, the Margot Robbie-starring picture had the lowest box office opening of any DC Comics movie in the past decade. Birds of Prey has since gone on to earn more than double its budget, but that hasn't done anything to dispel the impression the movie was a box office disaster.
Following her stand-out performance as Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad, it was only a matter of time before Robbie reprised the role again. Though there were many different vehicles in the works for Robbie's Harley, she opted to pursue Birds of Prey, recognizing it would showcase more of DC's lesser known characters, like Black Canary and Huntress. Cathy Yan was hired as director and Christina Hodson as screenwriter, rounding out the predominately female-driven movie, both in front of and behind the camera. Yet, while critics praised Birds of Prey and, in particular, the representation of its women protagonists, the movie's apparent failure at the box office was taken by some as more proof that superhero movies starring women just aren't successful.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cathy Yan discussed the expectations placed on Birds of Prey ahead of its release and how that likely impacted the narrative surrounding its box office performance. Specifically, Yan was asked if she felt there was a double-standard applied to Birds of Prey's performance when compared to a movie like Ford v Ferrari, which saw a similar return at the box office in relation to its budget.
Yeah, I think that if you actually look at the details of the budget breakdown… I know that the studio had really high expectations for the movie — as we all did. There were also undo expectations on a female-led movie, and what I was most disappointed in was this idea that perhaps it proved that we weren’t ready for this yet. That was an extra burden that, as a woman-of-color director, I already had on me anyway. So, yes, I think there were certainly different ways you could interpret the success or lack of success of the movie, and everyone has a right to do that. But, I definitely do feel that everyone was pretty quick to jump on a certain angle.
Box office earnings are only one way to judge a film's success, but they're often used as the earliest indicator. Plus, if a movie performs well at the box office, then it's more likely to earn a sequel - something that, nowadays, is simply a must-have for any superhero movie looking to grow a franchise. Of course, there are also examples of movies that were huge box office successes and yet were received so poorly they tanked any plans for future installments. Meaning, there's really no hard and fast rule when it comes to using a movie's box office as an indicator of its success, and as such, a film's performance can be used to make an argument that goes either way.
In the case of Birds of Prey, there's no denying it fell short of expectations, but that isn't quite the same as the movie being a complete failure. After all, it's among the better DC movies in recent years, earning a positive response from both fans and critics. Its lackluster box office performance also hasn't appeared to hurt enthusiasm for Warner Bros.' upcoming DC films, including James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which has Robbie again reprising Harley. It'll be interesting to observe exactly what lessons WB takes away from Birds of Prey, be it avoiding R-rated comic book movies or lesser known characters in the future. Hopefully, they won't completely abandon the world they've created with Harley and the Birds of Prey, and fans can see them together again in some capacity.
Source: THR