"Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn" continues to receive high praise and is holding steady with audience scores of 80 percent on sites including Rotten Tomatoes, despite the film debuting to poor box office numbers. "Birds of Prey" opening weekend of $33 million domestic is the second-lowest opening for a comic book movie. The worst was "Jonah Hex," which brought in only $5.4 million in 2010.

The film's lengthy title is being partially blamed for the financial disaster, according to box office insiders. Box office analyst Jeff Bock told Variety that one main reason for the financial let down is the studio not focusing on Margot Robbie's return as Harley Quinn.

The studio should have named it "Harley Quinn." That decision was a huge mistake. That mistake was obvious, and now several theaters including AMC and Cinepolis have changed the title to "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey," in all of their marketing materials after Warner Bros. made the request.

'Birds of Prey' not exactly a financial disaster

Comparing "Birds of Prey," to its financial failures predecessors, it's worth noting that the film was made on a budget of nearly $85 million, meaning it only earned back 39 percent of production costs during its opening weekend. In comparison, "Green Lantern," considered by many to be a major let down in the genre, cost $200 million, but only earned $53 million in its first opening weekend.

DC's "Catwoman," had a $100 million budget, but only made $13.7 million in its opening weekend at the box office. "Jonah Hex," cost $47 million, and only managed to earn 11% of their money back. When all things considered, it's not quite the failure many are making it out to be. While it's not the best among the DCEU, it comes ahead of "Justice League," and slightly behind the popular "Aquaman." "Aquaman" managed to bring in $68 million in its opening weekend.

If "Birds of Prey," can grow some legs and perform as well as "Aquaman," it's possible it could earn a global box office haul of $500 million.

'Birds of Prey' not the first to face a similar marketing failure

If it ends up performing as well as "Shazam!," which brought in $366 million globally, then "Birds of Prey," could possibly earn a grand total at the box office of $220 million.

"Birds of Prey," features an established fan-favorite character, and while it has an R-rating, it follows a recent line of financially successful R-rated comic book films.

A few entertainment sites including The Verge have drawn comparisons of "Birds of Prey's" release to Fox's rollout of "Dark Phoenix." In similar fashion, "Dark Phoenix," appeared to be a random sci-fi movie, not the final installment in an X-Men franchise. The film bombed and only brought in $65 million domestically. At the end of the day, a simple title change may not have a major impact on the success of the movie.
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