Despite receiving positive reviews from critics (but not from me here at KKP), Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) has managed to gross only a paltry US$33.2M in the US and only a total of US$81.2M at the worldwide box office over the weekend.

That gives Birds Of Prey the proud title of currently being the DCEU movie with the lowest box office opening weekend (via Deadline). On the other hand, 2019’s Shazam (which previously held the record for lowest opening weekend) still managed to garner at least US$158.6 million in its first weekend, almost twice as much as Birds Of Prey‘s weak opening.

As much as the critics like to overly-praise Birds Of Prey, misleading marketing is likely the reason why it is currently performing so terribly. As I pointed out in my review, the actual Birds Of Prey play second fiddle to Harley Quinn in their own movie, disrespecting the source material in the process.

Some critics blame the R-rating for this box office opening weekend blunder. However, that is a preposterous and ridiculous notion. This is especially so when considering that both 2016’s Deadpool and 2019’s Joker were rated R, but they ultimately managed to gross US$700+ million and more than a billion at the worldwide box office, respectively.

Albeit having a lower budget than most superhero flicks at just US$97 million, there’s no denying that Birds Of Prey will probably turn out to be a box office disappointment for Warner Bros. It looks like the studio will have to look towards Wonder Woman 1984 later this year to make up for this dismal performance.