Weekend Box Office Report: Birds of Prey takes flight in first!

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Harley and company come out on top!

Margot Robbie's homicidal harlequin and her accomplices took off in first place a the box office this weekend as BIRDS OF PREY opened with an estimated $33.2 million!

Although Harley Quinn and her squad easily captured the #1 spot, their R-rated debut didn't make quite the expected opening splash with estimates predicting a $40-$50 million start.

The girl power of Harley, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) also didn't hit nearly as hard as fellow DC Comics character WONDER WOMAN, who started with $103.2 million in 2017. And the Jokerless post-SUICIDE SQUAD adventures of the Clown Prince of Crime's former flame couldn't compare to last year's R-rated DC Comics origin story JOKER (an alternate version of her puddin'), which started out with $96.2 million.

In addition, Harley's gleefully violent conflict with Ewan McGregor's Gotham crime lord didn't have the opening impact of other recent R-rated comic adaptations DEADPOOL ($132 million), DEADPOOL 2 ($125.5 million) or LOGAN ($88.4 million).

Directed by Cathy Yan, the extravagantly titled BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) cost a reported $84.5 million.

Also featuring Rosie Perez and Chris Messina, Harley's madcap mallet-swinging exploits made an extra $48 million from international audiences for a worldwide opening of $81.2 million.

Critics were fairly entertained by the antics of Harley and her vigilante colleagues, giving the movie an average of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 60. Swoop on over to the JoBlo review HERE.

After three weekends on top, the R-rated action sequel BAD BOYS FOR LIFE stepped down to second place with $12 million.

Directed by Belgian team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sony's $90 million return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's Miami cops has a domestic total of $166.3 million and a worldwide total of $336 million.

In third place was the World War I drama 1917 with $9 million on its fifth weekend in wide release. Universal's Best Picture nominee from director Sam Mendes has a domestic total of $132.5 million and a worldwide total of $287.3 million, on a reported $90 million cost.

The PG-rated Robert Downey Jr. fantasy DOLITTLE was in fourth place with $6.6 million. Universal's $175 million adventure has chatted its way to a domestic total of $63.9 and $158.6 million worldwide after four weekends.

In fifth place was the PG-13 sequel JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL with $5.5 million over its ninth weekend in theaters. The $125 million action-comedy from Sony has almost climbed to the $300 million domestic mark, and has a worldwide total of $768.4 million.

Director Guy Ritchie's crime-comedy THE GENTLEMEN was in sixth place with $4.1 million on its third weekend. The R-rated ensemble piece has a domestic total of $26.8 million and a worldwide total of $54.8 million, on a reported cost of $22 million.

Lurking in seventh place was the PG-13 dark fantasy GRETEL & HANSEL with $3.5 million, creeping down by 43% from its opening last weekend. The $5 million Brothers Grimm fairy tale of cannibalism and witchcraft has a ten-day domestic total of $11.5 million and $13 million worldwide.

Popping back up on the list for Oscar weekend was writer-director Rian Johnson's PG-13 crime-comedy KNIVES OUT in eighth place with $2.3 million. The A-list murder mystery now has a domestic total of $158.9 million and just short of $300 million worldwide, on a reported cost of $40 million.

The PG-13 period drama LITTLE WOMEN was in ninth place with $2.3 million. After seven weekends, Greta Gerwig's $40 million literary adaptation has a domestic total of $102.6 million and $177.1 million worldwide.

At the bottom was the PG-13 sequel STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER with $2.2 million on its eighth weekend on screens. Disney's $275 million end to the Skywalker saga has a domestic total of $510.5 million and a worldwide total of $1.06 billion, enough to defeat ROGUE ONE's $1.05 billion finish but far, far away from the global totals for sequel trilogy chapters THE FORCE AWAKENS ($2.06 billion) and THE LAST JEDI ($1.13 billion).

Outside the chart, the PG-13 horror-thriller THE TURNING was frightened away, and the R-rated Blake Lively/Jude Law revenge thriller THE RHYTHM SECTION lost the beat after one weekend in the Top 10.

In limited release, the Richard Armitage/Riley Keough thriller THE LODGE didn't scare up much attention with a chilly $13k per-screen average. The R-rated atmospheric horror movie received a 75% critical average on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 64 on Metacritic (the JoBlo review is HERE).

Next weekend presents the fast-moving videogame adaptation SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, the R-rated Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Will Ferrell comedy-drama DOWNHILL and Blumhouse's horror version of 1970s TV show FANTASY ISLAND, plus more appropriate Valentine's Day offerings with the Liam Neeson/Lesley Manville drama ORDINARY LOVE and the romance THE PHOTOGRAPH.

Which of the 2020 Academy Awards Best Picture nominees is your favorite? VOTE HERE!