Like a lousy football team that always finds a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, Warner Bros. may have just screwed themselves on a film that was basically a sure winner. There’s genuine excitement for Birds of Prey, which brings back Margot Robbie’s incredibly popular Harley Quinn character from Suicide Squad, surrounded by her all-girl gang of Huntress, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain. While one would think the simple title Birds of Prey would be enough for audiences to latch on to, apparently others thought it needed to go bigger. Way bigger.
Robbie and Warner Bros. have revealed the full title to be Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn). Er, what? It’s so far out there THR had to reach out and confirm it wasn’t some kind of joke, which it isn’t. That’s the actual title. While I appreciate the nod to Michael Keaton’s Oscar-winning Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), I think it’s safe to say that film succeeded because of critical reviews and not the overlong title. As we know by now, any DCEU film is not guaranteed good reviews by any stretch of the imagination.
On the plus side, the title does give us an idea of what to expect, and it’s Harley Quinn breaking free from her relationship with Jared Leto’s Joker. It’s unlikely we’ll see him appear in the film for anything more than the briefest of cameos, if at all. Probably not at all, though.
As a simple marketing strategy this just doesn’t strike me as a very good idea. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and it won’t make a lick of difference. We’ll find out when Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) opens February 7th 2020.
? @MargotRobbie #BirdsofPrey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) hits theaters 2.7.20. pic.twitter.com/TDFRgwmPJA— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) November 20, 2018
