• Warner Bros.’ “Birds of Prey” won the domestic box office, but with a soft $US33.2 million.
• The studio projected a $US45 million opening (about half of its production budget), while industry projections were around $US50 million to $US55 million.
• It’s a disappointing opening for the DC Comics movie, which has a fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 81%. Its R rating may have kept away teen girls who love the movie’s lead, Harley Quinn.
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Well, this was unexpected.

Though it’s one of the most anticipated releases of the year, was critically acclaimed with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81%, and is the most attractive new release in theatres since the mid January opening of “Bad Boys for Life,” Warner Bros.’ latest DC Comics title, “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” had a very soft opening.

“Birds of Prey” took in an estimated $US33.2 million over the weekend, which makes it the top earner at the domestic box office and dethroned the three week reign of Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life,” but that’s an extremely low number that is even below the modest $US45 million opening projected by the studio (industry projections had it earning between $US50 million and $US55 million). The movie had a production budget of $US84.5 million.

The opening really stings when you look at the fact that Warner Bros. had zero competition this weekend in theatres and released the title on over 4,200 screens. That’s a record-breaker for the month of February. Even more screens that Disney/Marvel opened “Black Panther” on back in 2018.

The $US33.2 million opening for “Birds of Prey” marks the lowest so far for a DC Comics title. The lowest before was the $US100 million-budgeted “Shazam!” with $US53.5 million.

So what in the world happened to the movie about the one and only Harley Quinn?

It’s hard to nail it down to one thing. Warner Bros. marketed the heck out of it. As already noted, the release date wasn’t the issue. Could it be a matter that the predominantly male demo that makes up comic book movie fans didn’t want to turn out for a female-led comic book movie? It’s hard to use that argument when movies like “Wonder Woman” and “Captain Marvel” found box office glory.

This one is a head scratcher. But if we were to focus on one aspect perhaps it’s the movie’s R-rating.

Though “Deadpool” has thrived over the fact that it can go off the rails in regards to language or behaviour at the snap of a finger because it’s a hard R franchise, when it comes to Harley Quinn that might have been a gamble by WB/DC that didn’t pay off.

A big portion of the Quinn fanbase are teenage girls who don’t just gobble up the comics and merch, but also consumer the cartoons Quinn is in. With the R rating, director Cathy Yan wasn’t limited in the violence or salty language she could portray, but the movie missed out on the teen market.

Though “Suicide Squad,” the first movie to feature Margot Robbie as Quinn, didn’t find the critical backing, “Birds of Prey” did. “Suicide Squad” was rated PG-13 and went on to have a record-breaking $US133.6 million opening (if it got the kind of reviews “Birds of Prey” did imagine what its lifetime gross would have been).

It’s just one theory for a release that’s certainly going to have Warner Bros. and the movie’s producers analysing the missteps for some time.

• With $US658,000 earned over the weekend, “Uncut Gems” now has a domestic total of $US49.2 million, which makes it the highest-grossing release ever for its distributor A24 (passing “Lady Bird” $US48.9 million).
• Before the weekend, Sony’s “Little Women” passed the $US100 million mark at the domestic box office. After $US2.3 million earned this weekend, the movie’s domestic total to date is $US102.673 million.

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