Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn movie nearly took a seriously X-rated turn – This idea was cut

Birds of Prey saw the return of the irrepressible Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie) earlier this year as the antihero got her v very own solo movie. Despite a disappointing performance at the box office, the film received good reviews on the whole and boasts 78 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a similar audience score.

In the UK, the movie was rated 15, largely due to the strong violence featured throughout.

But a new interview with Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan reveals things could have been a lot more explicit in a rather different way.

Speaking to Empire magazine, the filmmaker explained how a racy idea for one of the fight scenes had been shelved because they had to “show some restraint”.

“When you set an action sequence in an evidence room, it’s really fun and you can come up with so much stuff,” she said. “We had so many different ideas.”

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn movie nearly took a seriously X-rated turn (Image: WARNER BROS PICTURES)

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn in movie

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn screenwriter wanted the antihero fending off a huge sex toy in one action scene (Image: WARNER BROS PICTURES)

One of those ideas, Yan explained, was to have Harley fighting off a huge sex toy.

“At one point [screenwriter] Christina Hodson wanted a giant double-ended dildo that [Harley] had to fend off,” she said.

“I wanted her to have a big fluffy bear stuffed with drugs that she used as a pillow to fight with,” Yan added.

Sadly, the pearl-clutch-worthy idea didn’t make the cut.

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn in a scene

Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn’s standalone movie disappointed at the box office (Image: WARNER BROS PICTURES)

“We had to show some sort of restraint,” the director conceded.

But that didn’t stop Birds of Prey toeing the line in other respects, she added, saying: “It’s a cheeky movie – unapologetically so.”

Robbie returned to the big screen in her standalone movie after making her debut as Harley in 2016’s Suicide Squad.

Sadly, Birds of Prey had the lowest opening of any DC movie in almost 10 years when it arrived in cinemas last month,

DON’T MISS…

Birds of Prey review: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn flick is BONKERS [REVIEW]

Harley Quinn movie: Birds of Prey bosses take swipe at superhero films [INTERVIEW]

Birds of Prey release date, cast, plot, trailer – all we know [DETAILS]

This week, it finally surpassed the $200 million mark thanks to a contribution of $2.09 million from viewings in Japan.

The low numbers at the box office came as somewhat of a surprise after critics praised the neon-cool aesthetic and impressive action sequences before the film opened.

Fans of Birds of Prey will, however, be pleased to hear they are able to get the movie early on digital release.

In the midst of countries locking down due to the coronavirus outbreak, the DCEU film is now available to purchase on amazon, iTunes and other platforms.

Universal decided to release a handful of films currently still in cinemas as people continue to isolate and socially distance, staying at home and avoiding theatres.

As well as Robbie, Birds of Prey stars Mary Elizabeth Instead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez and Ellen Jay Basco.

It was originally titled Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

When the box office opening came back lacklustre, Warner Bros decided to change it’s title to put more emphasis on the big name which had struck a chord with fans of Suicide Squad, calling it Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.

Source link