Harley Quinn actor Margot Robbie has a certain vision in mind for her character’s upcoming spinoff film.
Speaking to Collider, Robbie briefly discussed the Birds of Prey reports and revealed that she’d initially pitched an R-rated “girl gang film,” because that was what she’d always envisioned. She felt that Harley “needs friends.”
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“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,” she explained. “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.”
The actress also confirmed that Cathy Yan would, in fact, be directing Birds of Prey, as previously reported. While Yan is still a relative newcomer, having only directed one feature length film thus far, Robbie stressed that it was important to give a female director the chance at directing a big budget flick. “I was like, ‘I love action. I love action films. I’m a girl. What, are we meant to only like a specific thing?’” she said. “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.”
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Despite being a critical bomb, Suicide Squad did one thing right: it brought the fan-favorite Harley Quinn to life on the big screen. Since then, speculation has run amok as to when and where the character will next appear, whether it’d be in a solo flick or one of the various ensemble features — including Birds of Prey — reported since Suicide Squad initially hit theaters.
Although a start date is still unknown, Birds of Prey could begin filming by the end of this year or early 2019.