Warner Bros. and DC Films’ highly anticipated all-female team-up movie, Birds Of Prey, which is currently in the pre-production process, is confirmed it is looking to secure an R rating.
During a recent appearance at the U.S.-China Entertainment Summit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Birds Of Prey director Cathy Yan talked about her upcoming big studio directorial movie. She confirmed the film will aim to secure an R rating, Deadline reported.
When asked how she landed the film beating out several other directors, Yan revealed that she did a lot of homework before going in to meet with Warner Bros. regarding the project.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was relatively painless and straightforward,” Yan explained. “I immediately loved the script and it felt like something I could really do, and it felt very much like my own voice.”
She said that she put together a pitch deck and also assembled a sizzle reel to present at the meeting.
“It came out of me,” said Yan, “I have never done any of these things and I asked my agents for examples to get a better sense: I put together a pitch deck and also assembled a sizzle reel. But I would say it wasn’t like a lot of other sizzle reels which reference other films that remotely feel like your film. I find those to be rather pointless. But I created my own version that thematically and tonally conveyed what you would feel (in my movie).”
While Yan did not reveal much about the project, she did confirm that the script has plenty of dark humor, which could perhaps be the reason for the film eyeing an R-rating.
“I could not put the script down, it had so much dark humor to it which a lot of my work does, and there are themes of female empowerment which are so strong and relatable,” Yan continued. “So I went in with, not with confidence, but at least a sense that I belonged in the room, that somehow magically in terms of timing and luck that this opportunity was open to me and I was definitely going to make the best of it.”
Birds of Prey will see Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) coming together with other DC Comics heroines Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), to rescue Cassandra Cain from DC Comics villain Black Mask.
Birds of Prey is expected to get a different title. It is set to begin filming in January 2019, under the working title of “Fox Force Five”.
