Despite the poor critical reception to 2016’s Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn was well received as pretty much the sole positive of the film. Thus it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. have hitched their superhero wagon to her, with multiple Quinn/Joker spinoffs in the works. However it might be the one sans the Clown Prince Of Crime that hits cinemas first.
Robbie herself told Flickering Myth that Birds Of Prey – the R-rated all-female team up featuring Quinn alongside other prominent comic book heroes such as Black Canary, Huntress and more – is expected to begin shooting in January 2019.
Robbie had previously pitched the idea herself to the studio, saying that she “wasn’t seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it”, and she also confirmed that Birds Of Prey will be “different” from the other Harley Quinn spinoffs and made with a “much smaller budget”.
Robbie is also excited that the film will be helmed by a woman – director Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs), previously telling Collider:
“They always get ‘here’s the tiny little film’, I was like, ‘I love action. I love action films. I’m a girl. What, are we meant to only like a specific thing?’ So it was a hugely important to find a female director for this, if possible. But at the end of the day — male, female — the best director gets the job and Cathy was the best director”.
DC needs to get back on track and although conventional wisdom would point to fast-tracking a Joker-related movie, Jared Leto‘s performance of the classic villain divided fans, while Robbie’s Quinn was a home run. Plus an all-female superhero team up is a much more refreshing prospect than another rushed rehash of a character who has been explored plenty of times before.
Along with being directed by Yan, Birds Of Prey will be scripted by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), and will be based on the comic book of the same name. No release date has been confirmed yet, but with shooting set to begin in January, expect some updates soon.
#Peace.Love.BirdsOfPrey
