Christina Hodson has one win under her belt. She provided the screenplay to the current hit ‘Bumblebee’, the best reviewed Transformers movie so far. Now she is focused on the DC Universe. Hodson wrote the screenplay for ‘Birds of Prey’, which, thanks to star Margot Robbie, now bears the extended title ‘Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’. Though the title wasn’t Hodson’s idea, she thinks it suits the tone of the film, possibly in more ways than one.
“I think it sets the tone a little bit in that it’s a little tongue-in-cheek. My hands are so tied. But I do think it speaks for itself a little bit. Emancipation means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and we’re going to be exploring that in different ways.”
While Harley Quinn as a character tends to be tied pretty firmly tied to The Joker, ‘Birds of Prey’ will feature her on her own, at least in a romantic sense. She will be joining forces with other Gotham City inhabitants, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress, and Gotham City police investigator Renee Montoya, played by Rosie Perez, who attempt to save Cassandra Cain, played by Ella Jay Basco from the villains Black Mask, portrayed by Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz.
But not all moviegoers are well versed in DC Comics. Does Hodson think more casual fans will accept an emancipated Harley work?
“I do. I think she really has [been accepted] in the comics already, but I think absolutely people are ready for that. She is such a cool, bold, fun, great character. She doesn’t have to be in anyone’s shadow. So I’m excited to see Harley stand on her own and be her own thing. She is the character, in all of my writing, that I’ve most enjoyed. I’m excited to bring her into the world a second time. She’s so full of contradictions, she’s so intelligent, but also so crazy. She’s just the most fun to write. You never know what you’re gonna get when you sit down.”
One area where Hodson doesn’t seem to be concerned is online reaction. When the full-length title was revealed, some didn’t like it. But she hasn’t been exposed to much of that. When asked about the reaction, she stated:
“Super mixed, but honestly I don’t have any social media, so I see very little of this stuff. Some people love it, some people think we’re nuts. People will just have to wait and see. I think it’s always hard when you’re doing something bold like that to do it without any context. There’s no marketing yet, we haven’t even started shooting. But all things will start to make sense as we get closer and closer to [premiere date] Feb. 7, 2020.”
‘Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’ is expected to begin shooting in January, with a release date of February 7, 2020, already locked in.
As for Hodson, she isn’t venturing outside of Gotham City anytime soon. She is hard at work on a screenplay for ‘Batgirl‘.
What do you think of the title ‘Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’?
Source: Variety
