Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan talks underwhelming box office performance

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Despite favorable reviews and good early word of mouth from preview screenings, BIRDS OF PREY opened to an underwhelming $33.3 million which was well below the $50-55 million the film had been tracking at. Now that the film has ended its box office run and is now available early on VOD, director Cathy Yan is speaking on the film's perceived mediocre start.

In an interview with "The Hollywood Reporter", Yan reflects on all things BIRDS OF PREY and when the subject of the film's box office is brought up, Yan admits to personal disappointments with how the box office performance was played out in the press:

"I know that the studio had really high expectations for the movie — as we all did. There were also undue 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."

It's not fair to call BIRDS OF PREY a true box office flop but some media outlets did label it as such. The film could be looked as a "disappointment" when compared to other DCEU titles such as WONDER WOMAN and AQUAMAN in terms of their box office grosses but with a budget reportedly between $82-90 million, BIRDS OF PREY'S $201.8 million worldwide gross takes less of a hit. The fact that it stalled at $84.1 million at the domestic box office is concerning but it was bailed out a bit by international grosses and it should find some life via VOD and from its Blu-Ray release on May 12.

Cathy Yan comes from the world of independent film so this was her first big studio project. Yan wasn't aware of the kind of reach that a project like this could get and she's thankful for the people it did reach and the positive word of mouth that the film did receive:

"What was definitely beyond expectations was some of the positive stuff, such as the real global reach of the film and getting really wonderful notes from people around the world who felt like they were seen for the first time in a movie like this. They felt like they could identify with the characters on screen, even though they were in a heightened world — a world with stocked grocery stores. (Laughs.) It was still a world that was very aspirational. A lot of people — especially a lot of women and younger people — really felt like their voices, their type of people, they themselves… were represented for the first time on the big screen. When we first set off to make the movie, making some of those choices — whether it’s in casting or even in the way the characters look or dress — was somewhat deliberate, but I didn’t really think about the global impact of those decisions. So, that was really nice."

 At the end of the day, BIRDS OF PREY grossed 2.4 times its budget and also had to deal with the R-rating, which may have shut out some of its potential audience. I'm still scratching my head as to why the film underperformed. Almost everyone I've talked to who has seen it, really enjoyed it but maybe this just wasn't for everyone on a mass scale. We'll get to see Margot Robbie suit up again as Harley Quinn in THE SUICIDE SQUAD but I think all involved with this project should be proud of it because I think it's actually one of the better films within the DCEU. 

Why do YOU think BIRDS OF PREY underperformed? Did YOU enjoy the film?