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

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!