Birds of Prey was placed on streaming video services early, as were several other titles including Bloodshot, amid the COVID pandemic. Originally priced at $19.99, that has since been significantly lowered to a bargain price and there is a favorable result for the female-led DC flick.
IndieWire recently reported Birds of Prey is now available on VOD for $5.99 two months after its theatrical release, becoming #1 on the iTunes movies chart this week. To be clear it’s $5.99 to rent, but still $19.99 to purchase.
Upon release, the film charted at #2 but quickly dropped lower in the top ten in the weeks that followed.
Both IW and ComicBook.com concede this could be a strategic stunt to grab some quick cash and put some attention on the release. It certainly stands out among Universal Pictures’ The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma and the aforementioned Sony production Bloodshot. All remain at $19.99.
Dolittle, an even worse commercial and critical flop, dropped its price too though the post-Marvel Robert Downey, Jr. vehicle came out before BOP in January. It currently ranks at #3 on iTunes which is better than it has been doing.
Sonic the Hedgehog, which unseated Birds of Prey from its perch at the box office and outperformed it massively, was #1 but dropped below Dolittle to #7.
IW surmises “the studios may be playing with fire” but BOP’s new ranking is something outlets and its supporters are running with. The Mary Sue bragged BOP is the “4th highest grossing movie of the year.”
Furthermore, it is the highest-grossing superhero movie of 2020 and has made back 2.4 times its budget, a factoid The Hollywood Reporter brought up in its conversation with Cathy Yan. The film reportedly had a production budget of $82 million. It grossed $198.1 million at the global box office according to The-Numbers.
‘BIRDS OF PREY’ on track to become the highest-grossing comic book film of 2020 (Source: @BoxOfficeMojo) pic.twitter.com/o0IO2aeQcM
— DiscussingMovies (@DiscussingMovie) March 12, 2020
Those are premature boasts, of course. Moviegoing this year is interrupted by the pandemic and Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow have yet to come out. Undoubtedly, they will leave Birds of Prey in the dust.
Sonic has already done that and it’s his specialty, given he is the fastest hedgehog alive.
But #SonicMovie is also considered to be a SUPERHERO movie
And based from the latest list of highest grossing 2020 films so far@SonicMovie & NOT #BirdsOfPrey should be the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time.Also Sonic the Hedgehog has its own comic book canon. pic.twitter.com/yr3uWyPjh7
— Chasing Movies! (@TheMovieChaser) March 13, 2020
YouTuber Yellow Flash talked about that, The Mary Sue, and more in a video last month. He added the marketing for Black Widow and WW84 hasn’t been anti-male and won’t turn away that demo.
He also makes the case – hyperbolically – for Dolittle as the third highest-earning movie of the year.
Watch his take here:
Is Birds of Prey any type of hit? What do you say? Say it below.