Birds of Prey wasn’t exactly the box office juggernaut Warner Bros. was looking for. While it was by far the cheapest DC movie to make ($82 million), the final gross of just under $200 million was seen as a disappointment for the studio. But that isn’t stopping director Cathy Yan from thinking about a sequel.
While speaking with The Wrap, Yan said she already has ideas for where the story could go, explaining:
“I would love to see Poison Ivy and I would certainly love to see the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.”
A romance between two female Batman villains would certainly be refreshingly bold and a counter to Marvel’s seemingly family-friendly tone. Based on Joker’s success and what we’ve seen from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, DC will always have the edge in creating darker worlds over Marvel, but will audiences want to see it?
They did with the aforementioned Joker, which became the most successful R-rated movie in history. But Birds of Prey’s lukewarm reception is concerning and the prospects of a sequel are not great. And Yan understands that.
“I don’t know — I think people aren’t ready to let go of Harley Quinn quite yet and you know, Margot I don’t think is ready to let go of Harley Quinn yet either, so… hopefully.”
The character will at least remain in the public consciousness, though, as Robbie is set to play Quinn once again in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which is sort of both a sequel and soft reboot of the franchise.
Of course, there was a lot to like about Birds of Prey. Robbie is perfect in the role and the fight sequences were well shot. But the movie tried too hard to be different and self-referential and the title was somewhat misleading as the actual “Birds of Prey” didn’t come together until the end.
Whether we see a follow up on the big screen or perhaps the upcoming HBO Max remains to be seen. But Yan seems to have a clear vision of where the story could go and I say she deserves another chance.