Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan recently broken her silence regarding the film's disappointing box office performance.
Speaking with THR, Cathy Yan expressed her feelings regarding Birds of Prey, and the added pressures of making a female-lead comic book movie. "I know that the studio had really high expectations for the movie — as we all did," Yan began, "There were also undo expectations on a female-led movie, and what I was most disappointed in was this idea that perhaps it proved that we weren't ready for this yet." She continued that it added to the issues she already faced as a woman-of-color, before adding, "So, yes, I think there were certainly different ways you could interpret the success or lack of success of the movie... But, I definitely do feel that everyone was pretty quick to jump on a certain angle."
Birds of Prey went on to become the lowest-grossing DC live-action film for Warner Bros. since 2010's Jonah Hex. The film grossed $201.9 million at the box office with a budget of around $85 million. Despite being released in February, due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Warner Bros. opted to release the film early, straight to VOD.
Directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hudson, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) stars Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco and Ewan McGregor. The film is now available on video-on-demand.