At the top of the box office is WB's Birds of Prey, finishing with an estimated $33.25 million from 4,236 theaters (fourth widest ever for an R-rated release), falling well short of industry expectations as well as the studio's anticipated $45 million start. Things looked good heading into the weekend with the film receiving a strong critical response -- 81% on RottenTomatoes and 60 on Metacritic -- which was then followed by an "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and an 83% audience score on RottenTomatoes. However, it appears there just wasn't enough audience to push this one as high as most expected, though word of mouth may be able to keep it alive over the coming weeks if it proves to be more than just a niche film.
Warner Bros.
Opening weekend crowds for Birds of Prey were 51% female with 65% of the audience coming in aged 25 or older. The film scored best with younger audiences, of which gave the film an "A-" CinemaScore, which suggests the R-rating may have been a major reason the film struggled to take flight, especially considering its predecessor, Suicide Squad, was a PG-13 feature and debuted with $133 million. It will be interesting to see what WB does with next year's The Suicide Squad, which is currently expected to be R-rated. Will that now change?
Internationally, Birds of Prey debuted in 78 markets with an estimated $48 million. Leading the way was Mexico with an estimated $4.6 million launch followed by Russia ($4m), UK ($3.9m), Brazil ($2.8m), France ($2.7m), Australia ($2.7m), Indonesia ($2.4m), Korea ($1.9m), Germany ($1.8m), Taiwan ($1.5m), Italy ($1.4m) and Spain ($1.38m). Japan will be the final market to open on March 20.