'Birds Of Prey' Director Opens Up About 'Undue' Expectations From Female-Led Movies

“Birds Of Prey” was perhaps one of the few big releases of 2020 that got a good amount of time to spend in the theaters before the shutdown. The movie was expected to be a huge financial success and was on course to have a bumper opening weekend. But it all came crashing down since the movie failed to live up to expectations at the box office despite getting positive reviews.

Cathy Yan, the director of the movie, has opened up about the minor details why the movie had so many expectations and why it is considered to be a success from half of the people while the other half thinks that the film was a box office failure.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Yan revealed that the studio had a lot of expectations and she had a lot of expectations, too, but things got a bit tough after she saw that people had some unwarranted expectations from a comic book movie that was based on women.

The director also noted that everyone was very “quick” to jump on the conclusion on whether the movie was a success or not.

“I know the studio had really high expectations – as we all did. There were also undue expectations on a female-led movie, and what I was most disappointed in was this idea that perhaps it proved that we were not ready for this yet. That was an extra burden. But, I do feel that everyone was pretty quick to jump on a certain angle,” Yan said.

The movie opened well below expectations with $33.2 million in the U.S. However, the film garnered positive reviews from almost everywhere. During its run, the movie managed to accumulate $201 million worldwide before the outbreak that caused the theaters to close their doors for the public. “Birds Of Prey” made 2.4 times more than its production budget of $84 million and could have made more if the theaters were still open.

Margot Robbie, who reprised the character of Harley Quinn in the movie, was praised for her impeccable acting skills while Yan garnered a lot of appreciation for making such a fun yet riveting movie. The film currently holds a score of 78% on review site Rotten Tomatoes and is already available to stream on various video-on-demand services.

The cast of “Birds Of Prey” also includes Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Rosie Perez, and Ella Jay Basco.