Report: Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey Could Be in Trouble at the Box Office
Birds of Prey is a week away from its anticipated opening and looks to be at risk of tanking despite buoying first reactions and reports boasting about early ticket sale numbers.
Cosmic Book News says the film starring and produced by Margot Robbie is “dead in the water” as far as the box office, according to a Los Angeles source of writer Matt McGloin.
Related: Full Breakdown of Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey Arrives Online
McGloin experienced blowback for an earlier report that said nobody is buying tickets but his source “close to the movie theater industry” in LA affirms the story.
“All the local theaters are dead in the water with presale tickets,” said McGloin’s source, “there really are no tickets being sold for Birds of Prey.”
And McGloin adds his “insider” source noted “there are literally showings with zero tickets sold” when they checked Fandango and Atom Tickets.
People on social media sent McGloin screenshots of the apps displaying available seating in empty theaters across the USA and also in Mexico.
México 😂 pic.twitter.com/VG4nFLndBn
— Erik Rodriguez (@erigueza) January 31, 2020
Over in LA, the home of the inside source, a Cinemark theater is coming up equally empty. McGloin posted a screenshot presenting blue everywhere at checkout.
LA Cinemark. Again. Nobody buying tickets. #BirdsOfPrey pic.twitter.com/BXeNpjxQDR
— Matt McGloin (@cosmicbooknews) January 31, 2020
Related: Early Audience Reviews For Margot Robbie’s Birds Of Prey Arrive
A Twitter user from Santa Monica, comparing the potential “disaster” to Charlie’s Angels, posted data from an Arclight location in response. He writes between 4 and 6 tickets only have been sold showings in theaters that seat over 170.
Here’s a screenshot of seats for #BirdsOfPrey at the Santa Monica Arclight on Friday 2/7 at 7 pm. This does not bode well for the film. pic.twitter.com/NXOmIzg4PV
— Kamran Pasha (@kamranpasha) January 31, 2020
The Charlie’s Angels analogy is appropriate when Birds of Prey is being accused by critics, but celebrated by its makers, for the same brand of “wokeness.” The Angels reboot flopped with an $8 million opening weekend last November.
McGloin’s initial illustration that regular moviegoers are staying away all over North America was a screenshot from a nightly screening on opening day in IMAX that was practically dead.
#BirdsOfPrey Friday opening day 7:40pm show. Crickets. Wow. pic.twitter.com/QICKT1316R
— Matt McGloin (@cosmicbooknews) January 31, 2020
Inaccurate claims on the part of Atom Tickets “and the online shill sites” BOP “is outselling Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman” in pre-order sales fueled McGloin’s reportage.
He also points out the Atom app wasn’t as widely used back in 2016/17 when Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad came out.
There’s a disparity as well between Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad’s opening hauls. David Ayer’s Squad earned $133 million its first weekend and the Amazon’s silver-screen debut opened to $100 million-plus – a drop of $33 million.
According to McGloin, tracking for Birds of Prey is tracking at $50 million at the highest which he calls “really high and exaggerated” given the lack of tickets sold.
YouTuber Tim Pool picked up on McGloin’s reporting and stated, “I think it’s fair to point out that a lot more tickets have probably been sold maybe. Look, I went and checked and sure enough I found similar results. I didn’t do an extensive search like he did.”
Pool concluded, “It seems odd to me that with the early screenings be overwhelmingly positive and this being a DC movie no one is buying tickets.”
It sure sounds grim, but what do you have to say? Are these the results you expected? Will you be seeing Birds of Prey? Let us know below.
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