Back in April it was announced that Warner Bros. and DC Films had enlisted Dead Pigs helmer Cathy Yan to direct its DC girl gang movie Birds of Prey, and during a panel at the U.S.-China Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles this week, the filmmaker has been discussing how she secured the gig.
“I did my homework,” said Yan (via Deadline). “I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was relatively painless and straightforward. I immediately loved the script and it felt like something I could really do, and it felt very much like my own voice. 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 relateable. 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.”
She then went on to discuss her pitch to Warner Bros., adding that: “It came out of me. 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).”
SEE ALSO: Rumoured plot details for DC’s Birds of Prey surface
During the panel, Yan also confirmed that Birds of Prey will be R-rated, reiterating what producer and star Margot Robbie told us back in July; check out that interview here…
Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is directing Birds of Prey from a script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) with Margot Robbie reprising her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Fargo) as The Huntress, Jurnee Smolett-Bell (Underground) as Black Canary, Rosie Perez (Fearless) as Renee Montoya, and Ewan McGregor (Christopher Robin) as Black Mask.
Birds of Prey is set for release on February 7th 2020.
