If you thought that the tittle Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) was a bit of a mouthful than you are not the only one. Warner Bros. has officially changed the title of the movies from Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) to a more digestible Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. While not the best title they could have gone with it does succeed in what the other title didn’t, and that is putting Harley Quinn front and center.
It is important to point out that when the film was originally announced it was simply called Birds of Prey back in 2015. However, after Suicide Squad failed to deliver and was panned as one of the worst movies of 2016, major changes were made Birds of Prey. With Harley Quinn being the stand out character of the movie, there needed to be a bigger emphasis on her. Margot Robbie was also given more creative control over the character. Margot Robbie would post on her Instagram the script with the new title Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn).
Despite gaining momentum from Aquaman, Shazman, and Joker delivering in the box office, and CW airing their “Crisis on Infinite Earth,” Birds of Prey was expected to be a sure fire-hit. Unfortunately, after earning just $33.2 million domestically from its first week, short from the projected $45 million, the studio was expecting. The movie has mostly recive positive reviews with the movie sitting at an excellent 80% critic score with an 81% fan response on Rotten Tomato. So what happened? Many factors come to mind; for one, despite the success of the previous two films, Birds of Prey is still seen as a direct sequel to Suicide Squad (a.k.a the lowest point of the DCU). That association could have kept people away. Another reason, and one that many critics have pointed out, is that the movie is mainly about Harley Quinn. Yet, when advertising on TV the movie was simply referred as Birds of Prey.
Changing Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey is a smart tactic, but with the movie already bombing after one weak, is it too little too late? Of course not, movies have failed to gain its audience after one week before; however, good word of mouth and critical reception can help any movie come back from the brink. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey is in an excellent position heading into Valentine Day weekend. The only competition is To All The Boys I loved Before 2 (Netflix), and Sonic The Hedgehog Movie. So it is safe to say that the choice is pretty obvious.
It is also fun to point out that movies getting title chances is nothing new. The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies was originally titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Edge of Tomorrow also received a title change before the Blue Ray release officially named Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow.