Birds of Prey released this past weekend, following a glut of positive reviews, but unfortunately it’s grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons. Though it’s managed to make back its relatively slim $80 million budget worldwide, it’s still falling short of what was expected of it, with the movie generally being labelled a box office bomb. In response to that, Warner Bros. has deployed an interesting tactic: they’ve changed the film’s title.
As you’re probably aware, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is now being called Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. This is at least what it will be referred to in theaters. Speaking to The Verge, a representative for the studio explained that the reason behind the change is part of a “search expansion for ticket sites.” In other words, the new title has been designed to be much more SEO-friendly in a bid to make it easier for folks to find the movie.
As much as the original title reflected the irreverent tone of the film, it was always a mouthful. But the simpler title Birds of Prey didn’t accurately represent the pic, of which Margot Robbie’s Harley is very much the star. So, it’s possible those searching for “that new Harley Quinn film” might not have found what they were looking for. Now, with this simplified name, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Of course, it’s unlikely that SEO alone will manage to turn the project’s financial fortunes around. In fact, DC fans have been scratching their heads as to why folks aren’t turning up to watch it, with the answer probably being multi-faceted. February isn’t traditionally a month for big hitters, while the R-rating may have cut off the lucrative teenage demographic or else maybe it was due to the muddled marketing.
It’s obviously too late to fix all those issues now, though, so changing the title of Birds of Prey and hoping for the best is about all WB can do.