It was a tale of two R-rated films based on DC properties at the weekend box office. Despite positive reviews, Birds of Prey fell short with an estimated $33.3 million opening weekend. This was far below the studio’s expected $45 million.

This is despite good reviews, even from critics. The film received an 81% on RottenTomatoes and a 60 on Metacritic. Opening day audiences gave it a “B+” CinemaScore and audiences have given it an 83% score on RottenTomatoes.

The film’s audience was 51% female and 65% of the audience was age 25 or older. Theories blame the R-rating for the struggles but that’s easily blown out of the water by the earnings of Deadpool, Logan, and last year’s Joker. The latter film has earned over $1 billion at the box office with a similar budget. The fact it’s a female lead film is also debunked when one can point to Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel as recent successes.

Internationally, the film opened in 78 markets earning $48 million. Japan will be the final market and opens on March 20.

With a budget of $84.5 million, Birds of Prey should make its money back easily but the debut will surely get studios to rethink their future plans.

Joker continues to wind down its run but saw a bit of a boost going into the Oscars.

Over the past week, the film earned about $200,000 domestically which is an increase from the $170,000 it earned over the previous week. The film’s total now stands at $335.1 million.

Internationally, the film added $500,000 over the week down from the previous week’s $600,000. It’s earned $736.8 million internationally.

The movie’s $1.072 billion is an amazing haul for a movie whose budget was just $55 million. It caps off a record-setting year for films based on comics.

The movie is currently ranked #11 in worldwide total for a comic adaptation. It’s about $9.2 million from passing The Dark Knight Rises and will crack the top ten at that point. It’s unlikely to do so but you never know.

When it comes to DC films, it’s a most interesting one. The film is marching along and it’s possible it will pass Aquaman‘s domestic total by the time its domestic run is over:

Film	Studio	Domestic Gross
Wonder Woman	WB	$412,563,408
Aquaman	WB	$335,061,807
Joker	WB	$335,084,607
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	WB	$330,360,194
Suicide Squad	WB	$325,100,054
Man of Steel	WB	$291,045,518
Justice League	WB	$229,024,295
Shazam!	WB	$140,371,656
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies	WB	$29,790,236

Joker has been doing quite well in international earnings where Warner Bros. has had issues in the past. Aquaman indicates a shift for the company and lessons seem to be continued with Joker.

Film	Studio	International Gross
Aquaman	WB	$813,100,000
Joker	WB	$736,800,000
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	WB	$542,900,000
Justice League	WB	$428,900,000
Suicide Squad	WB	$420,500,000
Wonder Woman	WB	$409,283,604
Man of Steel	WB	$377,000,000
Shazam!	WB	$225,600,000
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies	WB	$22,300,000

The film is now one of the most profitable comic film adaptations of all time. With a reported budget of $55 million, the movie has a 19.49x return so far. That’s the highest factor for any movie based on a comic beating The Mask which was the previous leader with a 15.29x factor.

The film hasn’t earned the most compared to the budget, that record is held by Avengers: Endgame. Despite a $356 million budget, that movie earned a “profit” of $2.442 billion. Joker has cracked the top ten though having so far earned a “profit” of $1.017 billion.

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Here’s where 2019’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.

Total Domestic Gross: $2.368 billion
Total International Gross: $4.962 billion
Worldwide Gross: $7.329 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.289 billion
Total “Profit”: $6.041 billion

Average Domestic Gross: $236.8 million
Average International Gross: $496.2 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $732.9 million
Average Budget: $128.9 million
Average Profit: $604.1 million

Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. The bold numbers are above average while those below average are not.

Film	Studio	Domestic Gross
Avengers: Endgame	BV	$858,373,000
Captain Marvel	BV	$426,829,839
Spider-Man: Far From Home	Sony	$390,532,085
Joker	WB	$335,084,607
Shazam!	WB	$140,371,656
Alita: Battle Angel	Fox	$85,710,210
Dark Phoenix	Fox	$65,845,974
Dragon Ball Super: Broly	FUNamation Films	$30,712,119
Hellboy	Lions	$21,903,748
The Kitchen	WB	$12,180,032

Film	Studio	International Gross
Avengers: Endgame	BV	$1,939,427,564
Spider-Man: Far From Home	Sony	$741,396,434
Joker	WB	$736,800,000
Captain Marvel	BV	$701,444,955
Alita: Battle Angel	Fox	$319,142,333
Shazam!	WB	$225,600,000
Dark Phoenix	Fox	$186,597,000
Dragon Ball Super: Broly	FUNamation Films	$83,390,702
Hellboy	Lions	$18,882,732
The Kitchen	WB	$3,700,000

Film	Studio	Worldwide Gross
Avengers: Endgame	BV	$2,797,800,564
Spider-Man: Far From Home	Sony	$1,131,928,519
Captain Marvel	BV	$1,128,274,794
Joker	WB	$1,071,884,607
Alita: Battle Angel	Fox	$404,852,543
Shazam!	WB	$365,971,656
Dark Phoenix	Fox	$252,442,974
Dragon Ball Super: Broly	FUNamation Films	$114,102,821
Hellboy	Lions	$40,786,480
The Kitchen	WB	$15,880,032

Film	Studio	Gross-Budget
Avengers: Endgame	BV	$2,441,800,564
Joker	WB	$1,016,884,607
Captain Marvel	BV	$976,274,794
Spider-Man: Far From Home	Sony	$971,9285,519
Shazam!	WB	$265,971,656
Alita: Battle Angel	Fox	$234,852,543
Dragon Ball Super: Broly	FUNamation Films	$105,602,821
Dark Phoenix	Fox	$52,442,974
Hellboy	Lions	-$9,213,520
The Kitchen	WB	-$21,119,968

Film	Studio	Gross/Budget
Joker	WB	19.49
Dragon Ball Super: Broly	FUNamation Films	13.42
Avengers: Endgame	BV	7.86
Spider-Man: Far From Home	Sony	7.07
Captain Marvel	BV	4.61
Shazam!	WB	3.66
Alita: Battle Angel	Fox	2.38
Dark Phoenix	Fox	1.26
Hellboy	Lions	0.82
The Kitchen	WB	0.43