'Birds of Prey' Star Confirms Filming Has Begun

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) appears to have begun [...]

By Jenna Anderson

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) appears to have begun production.

Ella Jay Basco, who will be portraying Cassandra Cain in the DC Extended Universe film, recently confirmed via Twitter that Monday was the first day of principal photography. While Basco couldn't tweet any details or photos from the day of filming, she used the remainder of the tweet to highlight her siblings appearing in a McDonald's commercial.

This lines up with recent rumors that Birds of Prey would be beginning production on Monday, as well as previous reports and comments from the cast about a mid-January start date.

It's unclear exactly when the world will get the first official look at the film's ensemble of characters, whether through a Suicide Squad-style group photo or otherwise. Margot Robbie, who will be reprising her role as Harley Quinn in the film, was recently spotted training on roller skates, which has led some to speculate about what new costume she could be wearing in the film.

Basco, who is the niece of Hook and Avatar: The Last Airbender's Dante Basco, will be making her big-screen debut in Birds of Prey. She will join Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, Ewan McGregor as Black Mask, and Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz.

Birds of Prey will see a roster of DC female characters reluctantly joining forces in Gotham City, as they try to rescue Cassandra Cain from being recruited as Black Mask's newest assassin. The film, which is directed by Cathy Yan with a script from Bumblebee's Christina Hodson, is set to be a female-driven, R-rated entry in the DCEU.

"I could not put the script down, it had so much dark humor to it which a lot of my work does, and there are themes of female empowerment which are so strong and relateable." Yan revealed during a panel appearance last year. "So I went in with, not with confidence, but at least a sense that I belonged in the room, that somehow magically in terms of timing and luck that this opportunity was open to me and I was definitely going to make the best of it."

"It came out of me," said Yan about her pitch meeting to Warner Bros., "I have never done any of these things and I asked my agents for examples to get a better sense: I put together a pitch deck and also assembled a sizzle reel. But I would say it wasn't like a lot of other sizzle reels which reference other films that remotely feel like your film. I find those to be rather pointless. But I created my own version that thematically and tonally conveyed what you would feel (in my movie)."

Are you excited to see that Birds of Prey has begun filming? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will debut on February 7, 2020. Aquaman is in theaters now. Other upcoming DC films include Shazam on April 5th, Joker on October 10th, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.

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