Article from Deadline
Preview night of CCXP in Sao Paulo ended with a peek at the Warner Bros. forthcoming team-up pic Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) — or as they call it in Brazil, Aves De Rapina (Arlequina E Sua Emancipacao Fantabulosa). Harley Quinn herself, Margot Robbie and her fellow “birds” Huntress (Mary Elisabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) as well as director Cathy Yan flew onto the dais at the Sao Paulo Expo to a hyped crowd injected with EDM music armed with Harley Quinn inflatable mallets.
Robbie explained how the movie came about and was excited to create this story of unlikely friends. “Our world is crazy unpredictable — as you can expect,” said Robbie. As she further went into making the new DC film, she paused and said, “how about we just show you?”
The crowd erupted again as they shared the opening scene from the film which showed Harley getting over her break up with the Joker.
“Behind every successful man there’s a badass broad,” said Harley Quinn in a voiceover as we cut to her getting thrown out on the street in tears after her break up. As many do, she looks to create a new version of herself to get over her ex. She cuts her hair, eats junk food, gets a new tattoo and buys a pet hyena named Bruce (that dines on the leg of a man who inappropriately propositions Harley).
We then see Harley return to the scene of the crime where she met the Joker and she demolishes it. It’s clearly a moment reminiscent of Waiting to Exhale when Angela Bassett’s character sets her ex’s car and clothes on fire in an act of catharsis. But in the footage shown, it is clear that Harley is looking for a new group of gal pals to cause some trouble.
The footage from the envelope-pushing R-rated film was the first time the majority of the cast saw it and it was met with unhinged cheers from the crowd. “That was amazing to watch your reaction — that is why we do what we do,” said an excited Yan. “We worked so hard on this movie to see your reaction — especially the ladies in the audience.”
Robbie shares that each of the characters has a score to settle with Roman Sionis aka the Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). More than that, considering the opening scene sets the tone and thematic elements of the movie — particularly the theme of womanhood and feminism.
The footage and the cast explodes with unapologetic feminism — something we haven’t seen in a comic book film before. Robbie adds that it was great to have Yan on board to bring a fresh female perspective to the narrative. “It felt right,” she added. “It was so much fun.”
And just because its a female-driven superhero pic primarily made for women and by women, Robbie insists that “feminism isn’t just for the ladies.” She assures, “Dudes can be feminist too!”
They also debuted a new CCXP trailer which included McGregor donning the Black Mask for the first time, Smollett-Bell’s metahuman Canary Cry and tons of new footage to leave the crowd hyped for the pic which opens February 7, 2020.
In addition to all the action-packed madness, they dropped new character posters which you can check out below.
