In the mood for some mayhem? Margot Robbie and Warner Bros. may have you covered with “Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” also known as “BOP: Harley Quinn.” WB and DC Films have had a rough couple of years. For every win, critical and financial (“Wonder Woman“) they had another loss (“Justice League“) that added to the negative narrated that started out of the gate with “Batman V. Superman.” And while things are on the mend (“Aquaman,” while iffy, creatively, was a massive hit; “Shazam!” did well enough), the studio always seems one misstep away from a backslide.
READ MORE: The DC Films Universe: All The Movies Coming Soon & In Development
And while the response to the DCEU‘s“Suicide Squad” was pretty bad (it’s still the lowest-rated DC film on Rotten Tomatoes), Warner Bros. decided to look at the silver lining and see what they had that worked. First and foremost, critics and fans agreed that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn anti-heroine was the big highlight, so, soon, development ideas started to percolate beyond just a “Suicide Squad 2” (which was ultimately scrapped and then rebooted as James Gunn‘s upcoming “The Suicide Squad“).
First, it was the idea of a solo Harley Quinn movie, then a Harley/Joker movie (that’s seemingly been scrapped too), then David Ayer’s all-female superheroine movie “Gotham City Sirens” (up in the air, but potentially still happening without Harley), and then finally, what looks to be the ultimate version of all these ideas, “Birds Of Prey,” an all-female superhero team-up and more importantly, one that could be a significant hit for WB, which would make for three successes in a row.
“Birds of Prey” follows Harley Quinn (Robbie) as she joins forces with Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from Gotham City crime lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
Chris Messina, Charlene Amoia, Talon Reid, Steven Williams, Derek Wilson, Dana Lee, François Chau, Matthew Willig, and Robert Catrini, are all in the movie too, plus comedian Ali Wong is said to have a role also.
Director Cathy Yan, the Asian-American indie director behind “Dead Pigs,” is making the big leap behind the camera for this one. Penning the script for WB, is Christina Hodson, whose screenplays include “Shut In” (2016) and “Bumblebee” (2018), plus she’s also writing DC’s “Batgirl” and “The Flash” movie if they ever get made. Hodson’s become DC’s go-to screenwriter which bodes well considering “Birds Of Prey” was her first screenplay for the studio.
READ MORE: Margot Robbie Says ‘Birds Of Prey’ Is “Definitely Less Male Gaze-y” Than ‘Suicide Squad’
“Harley is such a complicated character, she was created by a man, and I think he did an amazing job with her, but she is flawed, complicated, has so many different angles,” Hodson told Variety last year.
“Birds of Prey”—R-Rated according to its director— is scheduled fly into theaters February 7, 2020. Get a taste of the mayhem in the first trailer below.
Full view #BirdsOfPrey poster ahead of tomorrow's trailer premiere. Also, @DANIELPEMBERTON reveals he's scoring the film. pic.twitter.com/PUfTtnRUso
— The Playlist ???? (@ThePlaylist) September 30, 2019
#BirdsOfPrey trailer dropping tomorrow morning according to @Fandango. Here's another new poster. #HarleyQuinn #MargotRobbie pic.twitter.com/ZjUFgvx9mB
— The Playlist ???? (@ThePlaylist) September 30, 2019
New #BirdsOfPrey promo posters. The emancipation of a fantbulous trailer likely this week. #HarleyQuinn #MargoRobbie pic.twitter.com/zLBPkezvP7
— The Playlist ???? (@ThePlaylist) September 30, 2019