Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey Film Details
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), also known as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey or simply Birds of Prey, is a 2020 American superhero film directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, based on the DC Comics team, the Birds of Prey. Produced by Warner Bros., DC Films, LuckyChap Entertainment, Clubhouse Pictures, and Kroll & Co. Entertainment, it is the eighth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), and serves as a spin-off and sequel to Suicide Squad (2016). It stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor. The film follows Harley Quinn, who, after breaking up with the Joker, is threatened by Gotham City crime lord Roman Sionis, and joins forces with Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance and Renee Montoya (who go on to form the Birds of Prey) to save Cassandra Cain.
Robbie, who also served as producer, pitched the idea for Birds of Prey to Warner Bros. in 2015. The film was announced in May 2016, with Hodson being hired to write the script that November, followed by Yan signing on to direct in April 2018. The majority of the cast and crew were confirmed by December 2018. Principal photography lasted from January to April 2019 in Downtown Los Angeles, parts of the Los Angeles Arts District, and soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Additional filming took place in September 2019.
The film had its world premiere in Mexico City on January 25, 2020, and was released in the United States in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX and 4DX on February 7, 2020. It grossed $205.3 million worldwide, falling short of its reported break-even point of $250–300 million. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.
STORY
PRODUCTION
Development
In May 2016, ahead of the release of Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. Pictures announced a spin-off film focusing on Harley Quinn and several other female DC Comics heroes and villains, such as Batgirl and the Birds of Prey. Margot Robbie was attached to reprise her role as Harley Quinn and would also serve as producer. British screenwriter Christina Hodson was announced to be writing the film in November. Robbie had pitched the film to Warner Bros. in 2015 as “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 felt it was important for the film to have a female director. While Warner Bros. and DC Films had various other Harley Quinn-oriented films in development, Birds of Prey was the only one in whose development Robbie was directly involved.
Robbie spent three years working on Birds of Prey and continued to present it to Warner Bros. until the studio felt the project was at the point it could be made. By April 2018, Warner Bros. and DC Films had finalized a deal with Cathy Yan to direct, making her the first female Asian director to direct a superhero film. Yan pitched for the job as “wanting to smash the patriarchy.” Robbie was confirmed to be producing the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment banner as part of a first-look deal with the studio; Sue Kroll and Bryan Unkless were also announced to serve as producers through their companies Kroll & Co. Entertainment and Clubhouse Pictures, respectively. Production was scheduled to begin by late 2018 or early 2019. The Penguin was intended to appear in the script at one point but was dropped to preserve his appearance in The Batman. Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, a founding member of the team in the comics, was removed from Birds of Prey due to her planned standalone film, which Christina Hodson also wrote.
CAST
- Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn: A former certified psychiatrist, who became a crazed criminal and the Joker’s accomplice/girlfriend, and later a part of the Suicide Squad. She has since cut ties with the Joker after the pair broke up. Screenwriter Christina Hodson sought to reinvent Harley, wanting to expand on the character following her departure from the Joker’s company. Hodson called Harley the character she enjoyed developing most due to her unpredictable personality.
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli / The Huntress: A vigilante who is the orphaned daughter of gangster Franco Bertinelli. Ella Mika portrays a young Helena during flashback scenes.
- Jurnee Smollett as Dinah Lance / Black Canary: A vigilante with the metahuman ability of hypersonic screams, which she inherited genetically from her mother. She is a singer in a club that Sionis owns. Smollett-Bell described Dinah as “disenfranchised and disconnected from the world” and someone who “doesn’t really want to have anything to do with crime fighting or being a good-doer, which is so against her nature because we know Dinah to be all heart.” The actress added she became a fan of Black Canary by playing with the character in the video game Injustice 2, which also influenced how she physically portrayed the hypersonic screams.
- Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya: An alcoholic, cynical detective in the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), who is building a case against Sionis.
- Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz: A deranged mob killer and dedicated henchman of Sionis who carves a tally mark on his skin for each victim he claims.
- Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain: A young pickpocket who has a bounty placed upon her head by Sionis after she steals a valuable diamond from him.
- Ali Wong as Ellen Yee: Montoya’s ex-girlfriend and Gotham City district attorney.
- Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis / Black Mask: A brutal, self-obsessed crime lord and head of the Sionis Crime Family who threatens Cassandra and Harley. McGregor described the character as “an absolute narcissist”.
Additionally, Steven Williams portrays Captain Patrick Erickson, Montoya’s superior at the GCPD; Dana Lee portrays Doc, Quinn’s friend who owns a Taiwanese restaurant; François Chau portrays Mr. Keo, a rival crime boss of Sionis; Derek Wilson portrays Tim Munroe, a GCPD detective; Matt Willig portrays Happy, previously a henchman who worked for the Joker and Stefano Galante and whose face was tattooed by Quinn and the Joker; and Bojana Novakovic portrays Erika, a night club patron who is the victim of sexual violence by Sionis. Charlene Amoia and Paul Lasa respectively portray Maria and Franco Bertinelli, the mother and father of Helena; Robert Catrini portrays Stefano Galante, the mob boss who killed the Bertinelli family; Daniel Bernhardt portrays Sionis’ chauffeur in the beginning of the movie.
The Joker appears in the film through animated special effects during a flashback sequence, and the combined use of an archived back shot of Jared Leto from Suicide Squad and rock musician Johnny Goth doubling for Leto in a brief flashback sequence. These techniques were used because Leto was not available during filming. A still photograph of Jai Courtney as George “Digger” Harkness / Captain Boomerang also appears on a wall in the Gotham City Police Department.
RELEASE
February 7, 2020
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