Birds of Prey: Cathy Yan Reveals What Was in Her Original Pitch

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has been in theaters for nearly a month now, and it has given audiences a completely unique take on the world of comic book movies. The ensemble film, which is anchored by Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, has resonated with fans, in part thanks to its passionate take on being a woman in the modern world. According to the film’s director, Cathy Yan, that mindset was first reflected in her initial pitch for the film — and we finally know what that entailed. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Yan spoke about the “sizzle reel” she made to pitch her vision for the film, which she assures was “not your typical sizzle reel”. The montage was set to a homemade remix of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” (a song that ultimately made it into one of Birds of Prey‘s most memorable sequences), and tried to illustrate “the worst of modern womanhood.”

“Like, scenes from Bachelor proposals, the De Beers diamond commercial, Kim Kardashian’s vampire facial, Fox anchors talking about women, Trump saying ‘Grab ’em by the p*ssy’,” Yan explained. “After I showed the video, there was just silence.”

As Robbie – who also serves as a producer on the film – has previously explained, Yan’s initial take on the film definitely paid off.

“We explored so many different directors,” Robbie said during a visit to the film’s set. “I said I really want it to be a female director if that’s how it kind of comes together. But of course I don’t ever think you should force that, either. At the end of the day, it’s whoever’s the best person for the job. And we met with directors, both male and female, and Cathy gave the best pitch. She came in, she understood the piece, she elevated the ideas that we’d been working on and kind of took them to a place. And that’s kind of what you need your director to do, to take what you have and then elevate it to another level. And she did that. And I remember writing copious notes every time we spoke to someone, and Cathy came in and my page was like just a big smiley face. I was just like, ‘It’s perfect. She’s perfect for it.’ Yeah, so it was really exciting, that initial conversation.”

Birds of Prey also stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, Ewan McGregor as Black Mask, and Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is in theaters now. Other upcoming DC movies include Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5th, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, Black Adam on December 22, 2021, Shazam! 2 on April 1, 2022, The Flash on July 1, 2022, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.