Harley Quinn film gets a new SEO-friendly title after Birds of Prey fails to take flight at the box office
- Warner Bros says name change will make it easier to find on ticket sites
- The movie’s starring Margot Robbie performed poorly in the box office
- The superhero film’s name was simplified from ‘Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’ to ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’
- Name change focuses on Quinn in bid to cash in on DC Comics’ popular character and help the movie show up higher on search engines
- Box office figure of $33.3million fell short of expectations of $50million
The Harley Quinn spin-off Birds of Prey has been renamed after an abyssal opening weekend at the box office.
The DC superhero film’s name was simplified from Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.
Warner Bros has admitted that the name change was to boost search engine optimization (SEO) to make it easier for fans to find it online as part of a ‘search expansion for ticket sites,’ The Verge has reported.
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Margot Robbie stars as Harley Quinn opened to disappointing box office figures under the title ‘Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’
The entertainment company is hoping to cash in on the popularity of Harley Quinn.
The movie, starring Margot Robbie, failed to meet investors’ expectations in the box office. Although the superhero film was the top earner in the box office, making $33.3million domestically, it fell well short of industry projections that it would open at between $50-55million.
The earnings marked the lowest-grossing opening weekend for DC Comics in a decade, according to the Independent. The film, which had an $82million budget fared similarly overseas, earning an estimated $81million.
The simplified name ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’ is hoped to fare better on search engines and boost ticket sales
From left: Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Margot Robbie, Ella Jay Basco and Jurnee Smollett-Bell in the new superhero film
SEO, the process of ensuring a website appears high on lists produced by search engines such as Google, can be improved by ensuring often-searched terms appear prominently in a title.
Adding Quinn’s name to the beginning of the title could also give moviegoers a better understanding of what the film is about, The Verge said.
Warner Bros. said the coronavirus impacted sales in Asia, though in South Korea, where Birds of Prey made $1.9 million, it came in second to a local release.
Birds of Prey doesn’t have a China release scheduled, and Suicide Squad never opened there.
Cinemas in the country, the world’s second largest movie market, have shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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