Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has gone through a title change at Warner Bros’ request, which fixes one of the film’s major problems… but it comes a bit too late. DC’s movie universe – known as DC’s Extended Universe – continues expanding, and its first film of 2020 is Birds of Prey, which marks the return of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn following her introduction in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad back in 2016. Directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, Birds of Prey follows Harley’s post-break up life as she comes across with a couple of past enemies and teams up with Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya to protect Cassandra Cain from crime lord Roman Sionis/Black Mask.

Although Birds of Prey has received positive reviews, with most of these praising its visual style, Yan’s direction, and Robbie’s performance, the film isn’t doing that well at the box office. Birds of Prey has the worst opening for a DC film in over a decade, with some blaming those low numbers on the film’s R-rating, which limits the appeal and demographics for ticket sales; and in Asia’s case, the outbreak of the Coronavirus which has led some theaters to close. While these are valid reasons and could certainly play a role in the film’s underperformance, the core of the issue seems to be in how Warner handled the marketing of the film.

Birds of Prey can now be found at various theaters as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, a change made at the studio’s request, though its official title remains as the (very) long one mentioned above. It’s yet to be seen if this change helps increase its box office numbers, but at least it’s correcting one of Warner’s biggest mistakes, even if it’s happening too late.

Birds Of Prey’s Marketing Focused On Harley Quinn

Birds of Prey introduces Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, Dinah Lance/Black Canary, and detective Renee Montoya, each of which have their problems with Roman Sionis, prompting them to work with Harley in order to keep Cassandra Cain safe – and yet, the marketing of the film focused mostly on Harley and how her relationship with the Joker is finally over. Although the Birds of Prey did show up in the trailers, these were all about Harley Quinn, so it didn’t make sense how the studio was looking to sell a film about female characters from DC’s universe working together (and who were the title of the film) yet all they showed was Harley – who was only included in the second half of the title, which is usually cut as it’s very long.

By changing the title to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, Warner Bros. is being much more straightforward and honest about what the film is about and who the leader really is (after all, it’s Harley who’s telling the whole story). It has already been confirmed that Warner requested the change to help ticket sales, as shortening it to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey makes it easier to find on theaters’ websites – and, of course, it helps give potential viewers a clearer idea of what to expect from the film. Although the rest of the team are well known by DC Comics fans, Harley Quinn is still the most popular of all, so by putting her name on the title, Warner might be able to get the attention of those who wouldn’t even be curious about a movie called Birds of Prey.

Sadly, this change comes too late, as the film has already suffered the consequences of the studio’s failed marketing plan. On the bright side, this will definitely serve as a good lesson for Warner Bros, and if Birds of Prey 2 does happen at some point, the studio surely will choose a better title from the beginning, and will avoid the marketing mistakes it made with Birds of Prey.

Next: Birds of Prey Ending Explained: Harley Quinn’s DCEU Future

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