10 Movie Franchises That Died In 2021

This one really stings. While Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is of course part of the wider DC Extended Universe, she's really become something of a brand name franchise unto herself, such that both Suicide Squad movies were heavily hinged on her presence, even more so than Jared Leto's Joker.

Harley was the undeniable breakout character of David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad, Robbie's portrayal largely being credited with ensuring the film's massive commercial success, such that the Harley-centric spin-off Birds of Prey was quickly greenlit.

Yet despite solid reviews and a more modest $100 million budget, the superhero flick was a major commercial disappointment, barely cracking $200 million worldwide.

Analysts struggled to discern precisely why Birds of Prey bombed, pointing to either its clunky original title, the restrictive R rating, or Warner Bros. simply overestimating the audience desire for a Harley solo movie.

Nevertheless, Warner Bros. decided to give Harley one more shot by folding her back into the Squad for James Gunn's R-rated standalone sequel, The Suicide Squad.

Though the wacky tentpole received some of the strongest reviews of any DC movie to date, it failed to recoup even its $185 million budget, credited to myriad factors from its R rating to its simultaneous HBO Max release, the pandemic, audience disinterest in the DCEU, a lack of star power, and also confusion over whether it was a sequel or a reboot.

With two commercial duds in a row and rumours swirling that Robbie might be done with playing Harley, it seems incredibly unlikely we're going to get any further DC movies centered on either Harley or the Suicide Squad.

With a Peacemaker (John Cena) spin-off series imminently dropping on HBO Max, it's far more probable that Warner Bros. will pivot some of the Squad's more popular characters into limited TV events that represent much smaller gambles than mega-budget movies.