Last week, Margot Robbie revealed the full name for Warner Brothers’ ‘Birds of Prey’ film, including the subtitle, ‘The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’. The title is a mouthful, but it’s in keeping with Harley Quinn’s wacky personality. And who would know that better than one of the men who created the character, Paul Dini? How did he feel about the new title? He took to Facebook to add his two cents:
Dini co-created the character of Harley Quinn, with artist Bruce Timm, based on voice actor Arleen Sorkin. After ditching the original, zanier design (right), Harley made her debut on the ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ episode “The Joker’s Favor,” in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance. But after fans embraced her, Harley became a recurring character and was so popular that she was brought into the comics and has even starred in her own series at different times.
Robbie portrayed her in the uneven film ‘Suicide Squad’ and while reaction to that movie was mixed, her performance was a hit, with Warner Brothers determined to bring her back to the big screen. Robbie was even given a producer credit on ‘Birds of Prey’, a rarity for a star of a comic book movie.
Rather than headline her own movie, Robbie opted to star in “an R-rated girl gang film” introducing film versions of DC heroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). These champs will face off against the brutal crime boss Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
Cathy Yan is directing, with a script by Christina Hodson. Production is set to begin in January (under the pseudonym ‘Fox Force Five’), with ‘Birds of Prey: The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’ due to be released on February 7, 2020.
