Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe, but how much did it cost to make. After experiencing a rough start with the mixed receptions of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, the franchise has bounced back over the past couple of years. The likes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam were all well-received box office hits, spawning series for Warner Bros. to pursue (all three of those movies have sequels coming). The studio’s hoping Birds of Prey can keep the hot streak going.

As the film makes its way into theaters, it seems to be another success for DC. The early Birds of Prey reviews have praised the movie for being a fun, wild ride featuring another great performance by Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Though Birds of Prey is projected to have the DCEU’s lowest opening weekend, there’s hope its word-of-mouth could give those commercial prospects a boost. Even if Birds of Prey has a more modest debut compared to other comic book films, it wouldn’t be a problem because the film wasn’t very expensive to make.

The Birds of Prey production budget is reportedly around $97.1 million, the least expensive price tag for a DCEU film. Last year’s Shazam cost $100 million to make. Birds of Prey isn’t really in the same ballpark as other DC movies like Aquaman ($160 million), Wonder Woman ($149 million), or Harley Quinn’s previous appearance, Suicide Squad ($175 million).

Going by the general rule of thumb (a film needs to earn twice its production budget to break even), Birds of Prey would need to gross only $194.2 million globally to make its money back. That figure is definitely attainable, and a mark Birds of Prey should cross relatively quickly. The film is without question this weekend’s biggest release and won’t face much competition in its first three days. By this point, Bad Boys for Life has already done a majority of its damage and nothing else currently playing poses much of a threat. Things will probably get more interesting next weekend when the family-friendly Sonic the Hedgehog opens, but for now, Birds of Prey is the main attraction at the multiplex.

WB was smart to keep Birds of Prey costs down, ensuring the film does not need to break box office records in order to become profitable. The R rating limits its potential audience, meaning it may not be as big of a draw as the other DCEU installments, which were PG-13. It’s true Joker recently hit the $1 billion mark, but that is an outlier (it’s the only R-rated film to gross that much) and an unfair standard to hold other R-rated comic book adaptations too. Despite enthusiasm over Birds of Prey’s release, it’s unknown how well it will do at the box office. If it exceeds expectations, then WB knows they could commit more resources to a followup. But should Birds of Prey’s performance match up with the projections or it struggles, the studio won’t be taking a loss.

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