Birds of Prey earns an R rating for violence and more

It has been suggested and rumored for ages that Birds of Prey would receive an R rating, and it has finally been confirmed by the MPAA.

The R rating was bestowed on the film this week for multiple reasons.

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, and some sexual and drug material.

The earliest projections for the opening weekend box office pegged the film to open around $49 million. R ratings used to be viewed as a limitation on the box office potential of a film, but the recent monstrous success of Joker, that seems to be an idea that has been aging out.

With Warner Bros. apparently pulling out all the stops for the soundtrack, the continuing interest in Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn, and new characters audiences will be meeting, we aren't going to be surprised to see projections creeping up.

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will be the first appearance of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn since Suicide Squad. She will be joined by Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the Huntress, while Jurnee Smollett-Bell will be playing Black Canary. Rosie Perez will be playing Renee Montoya, and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain as well. And Ewan McGregor joined the cast as Gotham City villain Black Mask.

The Birds of Prey movie is scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 7, 2020.

SOURCE: Film Ratings

56 comments

Bijan Adhikari

December 18, 2019

This movie is just a cash grab aimed at edgy teenagers.

Danny Neiba
December 18, 2019
agreed
Sassybat
December 18, 2019
with it being rated R, technically a lot of those "edgy teenager" cant even watch it
1. Seb
  December 18, 2019
  Idk where you live, but why does everyone pretend like kids don't go to see R-rated movies? I've been watching them since I was 12 I reckon. Wasn't nobody there to tell me "no, you can't enter". Seriously, I don't think anyone working at theaters actually gives a crap.
  1. mabruno
    December 18, 2019
    True.
  2. jack danielson
    December 18, 2019
    Might have changed over the years. where i lived in lake arrowhead ca there is one theater , and they always carded me. . My mom would buy the ticket , escort me in and then dip, and they didnt say anything beyond that point. I was 13-14. In Frisco Tx when i was 16 i was 'banned' from AMC after being denied for my age and having snuck in. (pretty sure it was smoking aces) More so a verbal warning not to come back than anything.
    Caveat- i look a lot younger than my actual age, especially when i was a teen. Probably harder for me than most to get by when it came to age restricted activities. I have been carded for buying lighters on multiple occasions when i was 21. I think it is just subjective.
    1. Seb
      December 18, 2019
      Well, I live in Belgium, so it may not be an apples to apples comparison, lol.
      I too look a lot younger than I am. I'll never forget when a woman once thought I was 9, when I was actually 15. To be fair to her, I was a late bloomer and extremely tiny as a kid, but then how did I get into rated R movies? I really think people here don't give a crap. I've only once had them tell me I wasn't really allowed, yet they eventually let me in anyway, hahaha
Movie fan here
December 18, 2019
*Reads movie isn't pg-13, and proceeds to bash movie being aimed at teenagers. Lmao stfu troll lol. Go away haha
1. Vger64
  December 18, 2019
  Teenagers under 17 will still get in. When I was 12 in 1976 I got in to my first rated R double feature. I was 15 when Apocalypse Now came out I got in no problem. Etc Etc. They will find someone to take them or just pay for the ticket and get in anyway.
  1. Bruce Vader
    December 19, 2019
    Yeah, but do you really believe a studio would rely on under aged teenagers to be let in by theaters?
    1. Vger64
      December 20, 2019
      You're right about that. A studio would not. I guess I was just blabbing about Teens getting in anyway. I think most of the time it is adults that pay for the ticket nowadays and get them in.
Berkay Demirci
December 20, 2019
If it wasnt r rated than it would have been aimed at babies like mcu movies?

DC_Fandom101

December 18, 2019

Predictable, also this R rating honestly will bring down the box office intake significantly.

mabruno
December 18, 2019
Or not.
Sense
December 18, 2019
Why do you care how much the studio makes? They’re rich they'll be fine
1. DC_Fandom101
  December 18, 2019
  I'm just a movie buff, I do this for a lot of movies.
2. Bruce Vader
  December 19, 2019
  Look at Justice League: it didn't make enough money for them so they're not pursuing a sequel (or a director's cut), so that's why you'd care if a studio makes money or not.

Hunter Zolomon

December 18, 2019

While i have barely any interest left in BoP i do think its good that studios are doing more R-Rated stuff, i don't think a BoP film should be R-Rated but the fact it is shows that WB don't seem scared of going that route is good. These past few years have been pretty good honestly for the R-Rating, Deadpool 1/2 and Logan both done really well and are great films, John Wick is one of the best action trilogies out there, Joker was amazing and is a huge success and even a film like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has done well. These films are showing there is a market for a more adult film.

Unrelated but seeing Star Wars tonight, between how bad TLJ was and the bad review to this one i can't say i'm excited but midnight screenings are always good fun and we're putting on a good show for my cinema as its Star Wars with some free goodies like posters and stuff being giving out.

Seb
December 18, 2019
Seems like the shill critics aren't defending TROS like they did with TFA and TLJ. Heck, it even seems like they are criticizing it, precisely because TROS tried to "course-correct" (aka retcon) what those movies did (specifically TLJ, which they deem a fucking masterpiece). The reviews are in and they are mediocre at best, which probably means it's a really bad movie. Even the most die-hard Disney defenders like John Campea said TROS is the most disappointing SW movie he's seen in theaters. I mean, let that sink in for a moment. The leaks have all been confirmed and frankly, it's a total shitshow. I believe in voting with my wallet, so I'm not paying one cent to see this. I haven't watched a SW film since TFA, because that shit disappointed me so hard.
Even worse, TROS looks to be the lowest grossing sequel SW movie yet, and certainly the smallest opening weekend. So much for LegendInMyMind's unquestionable prediction that TROS would outperform TLJ. Such a shame he deleted his account... I mean, he was enraged at me for daring to suggest TROS would underperform, and I waited all these months to stick it to him, lol. Pathetic, I know.
1. Hunter Zolomon
  December 18, 2019
  Well i'm the manager of my cinema so it costs me nothing so i don't need to vote haha. I will say while we have 3 screenings tonight for the film only one is full, i got my ticket late today as i didn't know if i was working when it was on or not and i actually got a pretty good seat (when you get a ticket at my cinema you pick the seat beforehand). TLJ was way more full at this stage then this one, we will actually have plenty tickets going to tonight and those are good seats.
  Yeah shame Legend is gone as i would love to hear his thoughts on the film. Its a shame Disney only cared for the money side, yeah i know that's the idea to make money but the MCU is prove of what happens where you also care about both. A review i read said Ray is so OP now she makes Starkiller from The Force Unleashed look weak, now he was already OP but gaming purposes it was fine so yeah she's easily the worst kind of Mary Sue out there, of course i'm a toxic male despite loving Leia in the OT and loving Asoka.
  1. Seb
    December 18, 2019
    "when you get a ticket at my cinema you pick the seat beforehand"
    Haha, I always kind of assumed that was the standard all over the world. Here in Belgium, that's how it always works but apparently in the US (and other countries), lots of theaters still have the "whoever's first gets to decide where they sit" mentality. So freaking weird.
    Yeah, despite his condescending arrogance, I don't think he was stupid or that his opinions were worthless.. when it came to SW, he was a massive shill though, like to an unfathomable degree. Feels kinda sweet knowing just how wrong he was. But whatever.
    Potential spoiler.
    Apparently, lots of voices from past Jedi will guide Rey into defeating Palpatine, Ashoka being one of them. I wouldn't mind if they include her, even if the vast majority of people won't know who she is. I am massively disappointed that Anakin makes no appearance though. They justified bringing back Palpatine because "he was there from the start", but by that logic, Anakin should be back too. I guess Kathleen didn't want a "white man" to save the day. Man, I HOPE she gets fired after all her failures and pathetic politics.
    1. Hunter Zolomon
      December 18, 2019
      "when you get a ticket at my cinema you pick the seat beforehand"
      Haha,
      I always kind of assumed that was the standard all over the world. Here
      in Belgium, that's how it always works but apparently in the US (and
      other countries), lots of theaters still have the "whoever's first gets
      to decide where they sit" mentality. So freaking weird."
      It actually was like until a few years ago where it was changed to how it is now, i actually didn't like that at first but have grown to like being able to pick my seat beforehand, caused some arguments at first though haha.
      Yeah i heard about the voices thing. Honestly i don't reckon its a "white man saving the day" thing as if that was case then Luke wouldn't be there, i reckon the reason is far more annoying and that is Anakin is the prequels and Kennedy and Disney really don't like referencing them unless the demand for something is too big (Ewan back as Obi-Wan). Hayden sucked yes as Anakin but personally i think he should have been brought back as Anakin, Anakin is a force ghost and out of them all he should be back even if its to show Kylo that his believe in Vader is misguided.
    2. Seb
      December 18, 2019
      Well you gotta remember that Kathleen Kennedy pushed Rian to kill off Luke in order to make room for the newer characters. If Luke hadn't been the main hero of the OT, he would never even have received that privilege in the first place... it would all have been about Rey. I mean sure, Disney clearly also has a anti-prequel bias and it's pathetic, but I'm pretty sure everyone agrees Anakin should've been back. The fact that he's made no appearance so far is outright insulting. Why did he never let Kylo know that he was doing the wrong thing? Uggh, fucking KK and her stupid direction.
    3. Hunter Zolomon
      December 18, 2019
      Kennedy is toxic, she strikes me as someone who never liked SW before being in charge and so here we are now. You know what i could have accepted Luke's death if it was done right, just imagine even if we keep TFA as it is that his role in TLJ was that of a mentor akin to something like Obi-Wan in ANH, give him a credible reason for not being around and then end with him actually going with Ray to fight Snoke or Kylo, have a force battle with Luke vs Snoke with Luke winning but Snoke surviving, Kylo i don't know could be elsewhere during this, Snoke alive but heavily weakend then gets straight up murdered by Kylo but not in a i'm doing this for the greater good like how Vader did Sidious but more how Vader originally wanted to kill Sidious (in that he wanted to overthrow him), with this move commit to Kylo being the bad guy, find a reason to split Rey and Luke up so Rey finds Kylo and then tries to do her make him good thing from TLJ except Kylo now fully embracing the dark side goes to fight her to the death, no weakened Kylo here or Kylo not aiming to kill this is Kylo wanting to end her and this could play out like shorter Empire fight where Rey is out of her depth against someone way more powerful, he wrecks and gives her a facial scar like what she gave him (i will leave out the limb chopping as its overused), before he can kill her Luke appears and saves her cue another lightsaber fight but with a more weakened Luke from his battle with Snoke. I would have it that Leia died earlier from that ship blast and i will have it that Kylo done that, the battle i would have in Luke's favour with Kylo taunting him about what he's done, Luke through won't kill him, basically Rey is watching all of this but really weak and Luke hasn't got the strength to save both him and her so as a more clear deliberate homage to the death of Obi-Wan he could say a variation of the "if you strike me down" line and then allows Kylo to kill him what could let out a massive burst of force energy (its Luke let him have OP new move) what pushes Kylo back and empowers Rey to get up and escape. The ship Kylo controls is destroyed, he escapes and the rebels are a clear low point, the ends with Rey vowing to end Kylo.
      Now look that ain't perfect and there's a lot of holes and shit, i ain't a screenwriter though but here Rey gets a massive loss what she needs, Luke gets a great death and his character remains in tact.
    4. Seb
      December 18, 2019
      The part that amazes me is that Spielberg (if I remember correctly) vouched for her and said she was the most qualified person for the job. She clearly wasn't. She's fired/replaced every director she has worked with except for Rian and JJ (the latter of whom is a yes-man through and through). Idk if she "didn't" like SW... All I know is that she doesn't know anything about it and certainly didn't "grow up" loving these movies. It's all politics and corporate interest with her, it's not about creativity or art. Of course there's nothing wrong with caring about business first, that's her job after all, but making good movies IS good business by default, so it's in her best interest to create an environment in which creativity and filmmaking talent are allowed to thrive, and she has categorically failed to do so. She's too busy virtue-signalling how "the Force is female" and pandering to progressive ideologues to care about actually making decent SW movies that honor the previous entries. She had limitless resources, and all she managed to do is rip off the very movies she tried her hardest to "destroy".
      The fact that we never had a reunion scene between Luke, Han and Leia (and all the other OT characters like 3PO and R2) is fucking insulting. We all knew they were probably going to die at some point, but the execution was awful. You know, I could've totally forgiven TLJ if Luke hadn't died at the end. It felt like he FINALLY became the Luke we all know and love again, and the first thing they do is kill him off in the most nonsensical way ever.
      "no weakened Kylo here or Kylo not aiming to kill this is Kylo wanting to end her and this could play out like shorter Empire fight where Rey is out of her depth against someone way more powerful, he wrecks and gives her a facial scar like what she gave him (i will leave out the limb chopping as its overused), before he can kill her Luke appears and saves her cue another lightsaber fight but with a more weakened Luke from his battle with Snoke"
      That's fine, but KK would never allow that... they can't possibly have Rey lose anything because she's the best thing they ever created. Man, i genuinely fucking despise the character of Rey. And fuck it, I would have loved to see her get her arms or legs cut off, just to weaken her and give her so much needed depth.
      Ultimately, the fact that guys like us - random nerds on the internet - can easily come up with alternative stories vastly superior to the actual films, proves just how badly written and void of significance these movies truly are.
    5. Hunter Zolomon
      December 18, 2019
      I've seen it and fucking hell it was a giant mess of shit. I think TLJ is the worst SW film and i think RoS has got some real good moments and there's a scene what is genuinely touching and well acted (i won't say much because of spoilers but there's a cameo from someone no one expected to ever see). Regarding that leak well actually not all of that was 100% true, i'm guessing we read the same thing but going by what i read a lot of that happened but a lot of it didn't. As for Anakin well i'm not 100% on it but i swear i heard Hayden's voice.
    6. Seb
      December 19, 2019
      Yeah, Hayden's voice seems to be confirmed as of now.
    7. Seb
      December 18, 2019
      And btw, I'm not "assuming" that KK and RJ wanted to kill off Luke for those reasons... they've actually said this in the past.
2. Sassybat
  December 18, 2019
  Ive notice that too on the initial reactions of TROS is just defending TLJ for some reason. prb the only thing that excites me about TROS is the retcon of TLJ
3. Nahuel Benvenuto
  December 18, 2019
  No, there are still lots of disney shills praising the movie.

Flower & Monster & Golden Calf

December 18, 2019

If it's as fun as the Harley animated show, it will be fine.

Hunter Zolomon
December 18, 2019
Yea but this is meant to be a Birds of Prey film not a Harley Quinn film, if the show was called Birds of Prey i feel people would be looking at it very differently.
1. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
  December 18, 2019
  Get over the hangup with the title. It doesn't make a movie.
  1. Hunter Zolomon
    December 18, 2019
    Maybe when i go and see a film called Bird of Prey i expect to see a Birds of Prey film and not a Harley Quinn film with Birds minus their leader playing supporting roles.
    Tell me if you watched WW84 next year only to find Cheetah was the lead and Diana having a minor supporting role wouldn't you be a bit peeved? The Birds are one of comics best teams but Harley's hijacked them and booted their founder and leader, this would be like the first JL film not having Superman or Batman in it and Harley being the new founder and leader. This should be a film based around Babs, Helena and Dinah not Harley and characters who have zero resemblance to their comic self, going by what i've seen from the trailers Katie Cassidy's Canary and the mess of Arrow's Huntress are more accurate then what this film is putting out, not only that Cass is talking like a normal kid what is pretty much on the level of sewing Deadpool's mouth shut.
BatmanUglyCowl
December 18, 2019
Man, if only they tone down the *girl power* and the gratuitous violence just a bit, that show would be awesome

Seb

December 18, 2019

People always praise studios when they decide to go for R ratings... a movie like this doesn't need it, and honestly feels more like a desperate attempt at trying to garner the same praise movies like Deadpool, Logan and now Joker have gotten. The difference is, those movies EARNED their rating, and needed them. You literally can't do Deadpool without an R-rating (evidenced by the flop called Once upon a Deadpool), just like Logan's and Joker's direction, themes and source material yearned such a rating. But THIS? A freaking Birds of Prey movie? This should be PG-13 at most, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever why a movie about these characters should be rated R, and the fact that WB think it does, proves how disconnected they are with their own audience and how oblivious and ignorant they are to their properties. More "edgy" shit we seriously don't need or want.

Hunter Zolomon
December 18, 2019
Now you see a Harley Quinn film would suit an R-Rating, her TV show while pretty immature at times is lots of fun and the adult rating has helped as it can go to places not even the comics can however yeah a BoP film what shouldn't even have Harley in it does not need a adult tone or R-Rating.
Also seeing Star Wars in a few hours, oh boy its going to be interesting to see how much of a mess that is, not even the critics are siding with this one.
1. Seb
  December 18, 2019
  Completely agree. I mean, sure Harley lends herself to an R-rating, but it's not like she absolutely "needs" it. It would work with her character, just like a PG-13 movie would work. But freaking BOP? Come on... Sure, it's nice to see studios take those "risks" (although I hardly think it could even be considered a risk anymore), but as always, WB conflate correlation with causation.
2. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
  December 18, 2019
  Going from the title alone, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker should be the best movie of the decade.

IamTheOneWhoKnocks

December 18, 2019

Seems like they’re going to test R ratings with this movie. Obviously, because of the Joker’s success. Just wanted to say an R rating does not make a comic book movie automatically good. However, I must admit that the rating got me more interested now..

Player2LightWater
December 18, 2019
Birds of Prey already aim for R rated for a long time.
1. IamTheOneWhoKnocks
  December 18, 2019
  Did not know that, I hope its good.