Margot Robbie pitched Harley Quinn spinoff as an “R-rated girl gang” movie

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Out of all the characters at their disposal, Harley Quinn seems to be of the highest priority for DC and Warner Bros. Played by Margot Robbie, the character stole the show in SUICIDE SQUAD, and now they seem to be exploring numerous projects around her. The one project closest to seeing the light of day is the BIRDS OF PREY movie with Quinn (and some other female DC characters), and according to a new interview Robbie really wants to give her an R-rated sandbox to play in.

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While promoting her new movie TERMINAL Robbie spoke with Moviefone about the upcoming Quinn spinoff – which recently hired director Cathy Yan. She said she’s been involved with a new Quinn movie for several years now, and from the get-go she wanted it to be an "R-rated girl gang” movie.

It was very important. I've been working on this for three years now and, from the beginning, I wanted to make an R-rated girl gang film and we needed a female director.

She told the same thing to screenwriter Christina Hodson (BUMBLEBEE) and said that although DC has all these other Quinn-related projects on the table (GOTHAM CITY SIRENS from David Ayer; JOKER AND HARLEY QUINN) this was the only one she’s concerned herself with.

I pitched it to her actually. I said, “I want to make a girl gang, R-rated film that Harley is a part of.” And we started working on it from there. Meanwhile, over the course of the next few years, the studio was exploring other Harley Quinn spin-offs. But I was not a part of those versions, I was always focused on this one with Christina."

Going back to the female director bit, Robbie elaborated that they looked at numerous directors – male and female – and that Yan is certainly the best possible choice.

The best director always wins, whether male or female, it's more about who understands the character the best. But given how few opportunities female directors get, particularly on these big budget films, I thought it was our duty to put more effort into exploring female directors than male ones. Definitely not to exclude male directors, but put more effort into exploring female directors. So we looked at both male and female directors and Cathy was the best.

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R-rated? Harley Quinn? Yes, please and thank you. Quinn has already been part of a team in SUICIDE SQUAD, and if they want this movie to stand out from that one (and its sequel) they have to give it its own style and flair. The best way to do that is by breaking off the censorship shackles and making it a bloody, vulgar, mature, sexy action flick. Robbie seems to really want that too, so hopefully, DC and WB wisen the f**k up.