Why "Birds Of Prey" Is Bombing At The Box Office (Hint: It's Not Misogyny)
In an era when so many movies and TV shows are adaptations of existing franchises, the intellectual properties surrounding Ghostbusters, Terminator, Charlie’s Angels, and DC’s Harley Quinn must have smelled like easy money to studio executives. Not only would writers not have to spend time coming up with original concepts and characters, but existing fans and name recognition would make marketing any reboots much easier.
That was probably the thinking that went into greenlighting Ghostbusters (2016), Terminator: Dark Fate, Charlie’s Angels (2019), and the recent Birds of Prey: The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. However, as the box office would eventually prove, these projects ended up being far from the safe bet investors were likely promised.