Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey

[GeneChing]

Some one must know the comics...

Who is Cathy Yan, the first Asian female director to helm a DC film?
Cathy Yan just made history by being the first Asian woman to direct a female-driven superhero movie. This is what we know about her
BY MELISSA KO
18 APR 2018 / UPDATED ON 19 APR 2018



Born in mainland China, raised in Hong Kong and Washington

Yan, a filmmaker born in mainland China, is now based in New York City. She was raised in Hong Kong and Washington. She went to HKIS in Hong Kong. She graduated with an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and an MFA from the Tisch Graduate Film Program.

She was a journalist before filmmaking

Before her directorial career, she was a Wall Street Journal reporter working in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing. She was also one of the youngest writers in the paper’s history to land multiple stories on the front page.

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dc_uhdBreaking: Cathy Yan to direct Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn “girl gang” movie
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The “girl gang” movie will be based on the Birds of Prey comics.

Source: Deadline, Variety

She used to work with auteurs like Jia Zhangke

Her directorial debut Dead Pigs was executive produced by China’s renowned independent film icon Jia Zhangke. It was shot with a bilingual crew with money from Alibaba Pictures – a film company under Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post – and Media Asia.

Her feature film debut ‘Dead Pigs’ is set in Shanghai and premiered at Sundance

The Chinese-American director made her feature film debut Dead Pigs in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in January. The film, which is a dark comedy about the conflicting social norms in contemporary China, won the special jury award for ensemble acting.

More on the new Harley Quinn film


The main cast members of Suicide Squad include Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Karen Fukuhara (Kitana), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang) and Will Smith (Deadshot).Photo: DC Comics

Based on the Birds of Prey comics storyline, the new project, an untitled all-female superhero movie, will feature the standout character from Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn, along with a slew of female characters from the DC universe.

Alibaba Group is the owner of the South China Morning Post

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MELISSA KO

[@PLUGO]

1. ...A pretty terrible TV show
   
2. ...A comic series with several notable runs
3. ...D.C./Warner Bros' last hope for a superhero movie folks will like?

So Christina Hodson is writing the screenplays for both a Batgirl Movie and Birds of Prey, I wonder if they will take place out of chronological order or drop the whole Killing Joke story line and cast someone else entirely as Oracle.


Gotham City Sirens originally played the "bad girl" team to Birds of Prey's "good girls" I doubt Anna Hathaway or Umma Thurman will reprise their roles . . . they should give those roles to to Zoë Kravitz and (according to rumor) Megan Fox.

[GeneChing]

Looks like Gotham City Sirens is a separate project from Birds of Prey so I'm splitting this thread in two.

‘BIRDS OF PREY’ RUMORED FOR JANUARY PRODUCTION WITH ALL-WOMAN CREW
BY AUTUMN NOEL KELLY ON 5/14/18 AT 12:47 PM

A Birds of Prey movie has been the topic of conversation for over a year and Heroic Hollywood reports the DC movie could start production in January with a crew entirely made up of women.

Warner Bros. recruited Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) to develop the film back in April. Margot Robbie will produce under her LuckyChap Entertainment banner. The film reportedly has two scripts, both including Harley Quinn and Batgirl as main characters. Black Canary and Huntress would be two solid characters from the comic books to add to the film, as well as Poison Ivy or Catwoman. One thing’s for sure: these characters won’t be playing second-fiddle to the male heroes and villains of the DC universe.


'Birds of Prey' may go into production as soon as January.
DC

“I pitched the idea of an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, ‘Harley needs friends.’ Harley loves interacting with people, so don’t ever make her do a standalone film," Robbie told Collider. "She’s got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn’t seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it."

Birds of Prey is only one of countless projects Warner Bros. has in development. It’s unclear where most of these are in production, but DC is currently working on The Batman, The Flash, The New Gods, Man of Steel 2, Nightwing, Cyborg, Gotham City Sirens, Green Lantern Corps, Black Adam, Booster Gold, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad 2 and a standalone Joker origin film, separate from the shared cinematic universe.

Regarding confirmed releases, Aquaman comes to theaters Dec. 21. Shazam is set for April 5, 2019. The Wonder Woman sequel is set for Nov. 1, 2019.

[GeneChing]

'no official title confirmed for the film yet'

Harley Quinn movie ‘Birds Of Prey’: cast, trailers, release dates and everything we know so far


Margot Robbie has been working on her own Harley Quinn project for two years Credit: Press

By Tom Connick
May 22, 2018 11:13 am

The Margot Robbie character is stealing the spotlight

Suicide Squad‘s titular gang of misfits and criminals might have boasted a whole heap of characters, but few resonated quite like Harley Quinn. A mischievous and unabashedly brutal femme fatale, the Margot Robbie depiction of the classic comic book character quickly became an outsider icon.

Her impact was so huge that Suicide Squad 2 has been delayed in favour of focussing on an upcoming Harley Quinn-focussed spin-off of the series. It’s reportedly centred around the Birds Of Prey franchise – here’s everything we know about Harley Quinn’s star turn.


Deadshot and Harley Quinn

What’s it called?
While there’s no official title confirmed for the film yet (with Warner Bros remaining tight-lipped), fans are referring to the project as Birds Of Prey, in reference to the female-focussed DC Comics franchise which sees Quinn linking up with the likes of Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Catwoman and Katana.

Warner Bros/Time Warner Inc. are simply referring to the film as “untitled Harley Quinn girl gang movie” at present, though.

Who will appear in the film?
Reports suggest Warner Bros want to establish a host of new characters in the new team-up movie, including Batgirl, before giving them their own spin-offs. Margot Robbie will return as Harley Quinn, but no other cast members have been confirmed at present.

Who is working behind-the-scenes?
The script has been written by Christina Hodson. It will be directed by Cathy Yan.

Is there a trailer?
No trailer has yet been released for the Birds Of Prey movie– but why not refresh your memory with Harley Quinn’s introduction scene in Suicide Squad while you wait?



Do we know the plot?
We don’t know the full plot of the Birds Of Prey movie just yet, but according to Forbes, “sources are describing the project as an all-female variation on Suicide Squad.”

As for the Birds Of Prey comic franchise, it’s set in Gotham City, and finds the titular cast of heroines battling the city’s countless villains. Usually centred around Batgirl, Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress, many others come and go, so the exact line-up for the movie version is up in the air.

When’s it being released?
No release date has been revealed for Birds Of Prey yet.

[@PLUGO]

Casting rumors for Birds of Prey characters Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and Renee Montoya have included Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘s Vanessa Kirby, Killing Eve‘s Jodie Comer and Baywatch‘s Alexandra Daddario.

Discussing Film seemingly confirms the previous rumor that the Penguin was dropped as the villain of the film and offers a potential synopsis:

Multiple reports over the past few weeks have been releasing regarding DC’s ‘Birds Of Prey’ which is currently set to star Margot Robbie and be directed by Cathy Yan. However we at DiscussingFilm have a potential synopsis for the film that we are able to share as well as some details on what we know regarding the film.

The potential synopsis for the story of the film goes as follows: “After splitting up with The Joker, Harley Quinn and three other female superheroes – Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya – come together to save the life of a little girl (Cassandra Cain) from an evil crime lord.”

The villain as of now is currently unknown, however we can confirm Umberto Gonzalez’s previous finding that Penguin was at one point the villain for ‘Birds of Prey’ and is no longer set to be the villain for the film, however the synopsis seems to indicate that the villain will be some sort of crime lord.

Additionally the synopsis confirms that the team that The Wrap originally reported. Besides Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, the team will consist of: Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya. Batgirl is noticeably lacking from that synopsis and despite how the character was featured in earlier drafts, they are no longer considering to have the character featured in the film (however I have heard they are actively searching to cast someone as Batgirl in the DCEU).

As for Huntress, as mentioned previously by Omega Underground, they are currently considering Alexandra Daddario to play the role of Huntress and are seemingly not interested in casting a POC actor for the role.

As for Black Canary, again as mentioned previously by Omega Underground, they currently have Jodie Comer, Blake Lively and Vanessa Kirby on their wish list to play the role of Black Canary, I’ve been told they are looking to cast someone between 20-30 years old and that Katheryn Winnick, who was previously a very popular choice to play the character in the DCEU, is not in the running to play the character in Birds of Prey.

As for Renee Montoya, as The Wrap previously reported, she will be a detective in the forsenics department at the GCPD, although there are currently no names that we are aware of that are in consideration for the role, the studio are looking to cast someone between their late 20s and early 30s.

And finally, as for Cassandra Cain, the studio are looking to cast a younger actor, someone around the age of 11-12 to play the role.

With the film set to begin production on January 15th, 2019 in Atlanta and Los Angeles, it seems we will know more information regarding the film soon, including official casting information in the coming weeks/months.

[GeneChing]

I can hardly wait?

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 12:14pm PT by Aaron Couch
Margot Robbie's 'Birds of Prey' Gets 2020 Release Date


Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment; Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Margot Robbie in 2016's 'Suicide Squad (Inset: Cathy Yan)

The Warner Bros./DC film is set to open Feb. 7, 2020.

Warner Bros.' Birds of Prey movie is set to fly into theaters in 2020.

The DC film will open Feb. 7, 2020, the studio announced Monday. Margot Robbie will reprise her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn, with Cathy Yan directing. The female-centered team-up movie will screen in Imax.

Warner Bros. has been testing actresses to star opposite Robbie as Black Canary and Huntress. A Wrinkle in Time's Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Underground's Jurnee Smolett-Bell and Hidden Figures star Janelle Monae are among those in the running to play Black Canary, sources told The Hollywood Reporter last week. For the role of Huntress, stars in contention include The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley, 10 Cloverfield Lane's Mary Elizabeth Winstead and How I Met Your Mother's Cristin Milioti. The studio is also casting for detective Renee Montoya as well as Cassandra Cain.

Birds of Prey shares a release date with Paramount's The Loud House (based on the Nickelodeon series) and Sony's Peter Rabbit 2. The James Bond 25 pic is slated to open a week later. Over the past few years, February has become a solid date for comic book movies, with 2016's Deadpool earning $132.4 million in its opening weekend and 2018's Black Panther bowing to $202 million, both shattering records.

While 2018 has been a quiet year for DC movies (the sole entry Aquaman opens Dec. 21), next year and beyond look quite eventful. The studio has a stand-alone Joker movie set to open Oct. 4, 2019, and Wonder Woman 1984 is due out Nov. 1, 2019. With Birds of Prey following just three months later, that streak of releases is akin to what fans are used to seeing from rival Marvel Studios.

[GeneChing]

Simu has a pretty good handle on social media. That'll serve him well.

Marvel's Shang-Chi Star Praises Birds of Prey but Blames Suicide Squad for Creating a Nightmare for Him
By MEGAN PETERS - February 11, 2020 03:22 pm EST

Simu Liu has had a busy six months. Last summer, the world learned the actor was cast to bring Shang-Chi to life at San Diego Comic-Con, and he has been riding a high ever since. However, that doesn't mean Liu has to forget about superheroes outside of Marvel. In fact, it turns out the star has a thing for Birds of Prey, but he isn't so generous towards Suicide Squad.

Recently, Liu took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Birds of Prey. The DC Film went live over the weekend, and it earned rave reviews from fans. And as you maybe guessed, Liu is a big fan of the movie.

"Watch Birds of Prey - it's a great film w/ strong comedy, great action and incredible performances - PLUS features kick-ass female heroes," the actor shared.

Simu Liu
✔
@SimuLiu
Watch #BirdsOfPrey - it's a great film w/ strong comedy, great action and incredible performances - PLUS features kick-ass female heroes!!

Also unlike Suicide Squad they DIDN'T block off my condo entrance to film for a week, making my commute a living nightmare... #StillSalty

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Before logging off, Liu did have to make mention of another DC film. A few years back, Warner Bros. was all about Suicide Squad, but it turns out the film had a personal hardship on Liu despite him not being involved with the much-debated movie.

"Also unlike Suicide Squad they DIDN'T block off my condo entrance to film for a week, making my commute a living nightmare...," the actor wrote before adding a salty hashtag.

Clearly, there are still some hard feelings between Liu and Suicide Squad. While the film was a financial success, it was greeted with criticism from fans. These days, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is giving his spin on the franchise with a film. He is currently working on The Suicide Squad which has been described as a reboot sequel to the original film, so here's to hoping Liu has better luck with this film than the first!

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