‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’ is reported to have had a production budget of just $75 million, making it the cheapest DC Universe movie so far, not counting Todd Phillips’ upcoming ‘Joker’ which doesn’t actually connect to the rest. (‘Joker’s budget is a reported $55M.) That means that the break-even point for ‘Birds of Prey’ will likely be a meager $150M and depending on how well it turns out, it could easily make that on its opening weekend, worldwide.
RELATED: Margot Robbie Stresses That It’s ‘Birds Of Prey (AND The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)’, Meaning She Isn’t Part Of The Team
In contrast, ‘Shazam!’s budget was $100M. ‘Aquaman’s was $160M, but considering how many VFX were needed to create that underwater fantasy world, that’s understandable. However, that was a bargain compared to ‘Batman V Superman’ and ‘Justice League, both of whose budgets were about $300M. ‘Batman V Superman’ made $873.6M, making it a disappointment, while ‘Justice League’ only made $428.9M, meaning it didn’t break even. But with a much smaller budget, ‘Aquaman’ made over $1 billion!
It’s unclear what this means for ‘Birds of Prey’. Rumor has it, this picture may wind up with an R-rating, which could limit its audience. It also may be a shift to darker content. ‘Shazam!’ and ‘Aquaman’ did well because they were light-hearted romps. Then again, ‘Wonder Woman’ did very well and that was a more serious film.
And ‘Birds of Prey’ has Margot Robbie working in its favor. She was a breakout in ‘Suicide Squad’ and the character Harley Quinn was already a licensing heavy-weight, even before the film. It’s quite possible that Robbie’s return in that role could be enough to entice viewers to head to the multiplex.
The cast also includes Rosie Perez as Gotham City detective Renee Montoya, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress, and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. The villains of the film are Ewan McGregor as sadistic crime boss Roman Sionis a.k.a. Black Mask, and Victor Zsasz, portrayed by Chris Messina. ‘Birds of Prey’ was directed by Cathy Yan, with a script by Christina Hodson.
‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’ opens on February 7, 2020.
Source: Screen Rant
