'Birds of Prey' Movie Likely to Be Renamed

With the cast rounding out and the crew working on pre-production for DC Comics' upcoming Birds of Prey, it looks like Margot Robbie's next Harley Quinn movie is well underway. But for purists who hope this crew of heroes and villains go by a different team name, their wish might be granted.

Venom cinematographer Matthew Libatique recently spoke with Philippines outlet GMA News Online, revealing he's going to be shooting the all-girl DC Comics team up movie. But he also made an interesting remark that the movie's title could be changed.

"I'm in preparation on a film currently called Birds of Prey. It's probably going to have a different title," Libatique said. "It's with Warner Brothers, and the director is Cathy Yen. Who directed a film called Dead Pigs which is a Chinese film. I'm excited."

Based on Libatique's comments, it doesn't sound like Warner Bros. is committed to that exact title just yet, but it's simply a placeholder as they start to finalize the details, though the movie is said to be shooting under the working title of "Fox Force Five." The original Birds of Prey team included Batgirl, Huntress, and Black Canary, though Batgirl might only be part of this film in a limited capacity so she can get her own solo film down the line.

Libatique also expressed excitement to return to the superhero genre, following up from Venom in Sony's corner of the Marvel Universe.

"It's, in the superheroes genre but this time it's in the DC universe, not the Marvel universe," Libatique said. "Margot Robbie is set to star and I'm excited for that. And then it has a little bit of origin story in it, so it makes it intriguing and it's very early though, so early discussions."

With Robbie playing one of the main characters in the film, this version of Birds of Prey will be much different than fans of the comics would recognize. Harley Quinn has never been one of the members of the team, though her Gotham City Sirens allies Catwoman and Poison Ivy have.

But Robbie has suggested the film will be a "girl gang" movie, and she herself has pushed for the involvement of more women behind the scenes in her role as producer.

"I pitched the idea of an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, 'Harley needs friends.' Harley loves interacting with people, so don't ever make her do a standalone film," Robbie said in a previous interview. "She's got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn't seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it."

Birds of Prey is rumored to begin filming in sometime in 2019, with a tentative release date in 2020.