Second, Birds of Prey is rated R. Suicide Squad, which gave Margot Robbie’s Harley her big showcase, was rated PG-13.
Joker is also rated R, and had a $96,202,337 opening in October 2019, which was much higher than many expected.
Suicide Squad had a much larger production budget at $175M (vs around $85M for Birds of Prey) but its August 2016 opening was also much bigger at $133,682,248.
As Deadline noted, a lot of young Harley fans — who loved the animated series and Suicide Squad — may have been shut out by that rating.