Despite initial predictions of an opening somewhere in the ballpark of $50 million for Warner Bros/DC Films’ Birds Of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn the movie has underwhelmed domestically, earning $33+ million here for a total of just over $81 million worldwide.

That opening is not only below estimates, it’s potentially a sign of a problem with DC Films’ entire approach to superhero movies.

Superhero movies tend to open big–as in making the brunt of their money in the first week–then decline precipitously, somewhere in the range of 40 to 60% in the second.

Buoyed by the success of Joker–rated R like Birds of Prey–it seems likely that DC Films may be making more movies with an R rating.

The question is is that a viable path? Joker in my view was a bit of a fluke, successful more due to the controversy revolving around it than the movie in and of itself.

The thing is, no such controversy accompanies Birds Of Prey and nor can DC Films expect one every time they release an R rated movie.