Birds of Prey‘s Sue Kroll on Why DC Moved to Standalone Movies, and the Vital Role of Margot Robbie

After years of attempting to chase after the successes of Marvel Studios with anall - in , all - connectedcinematic universe , at this point it seems Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment arewilling to admitthe rush to an interconnected moving-picture show slate was notits special strength . But in acknowledge that , the studio apartment has encounter itself with a outstanding opportunity .

“ I imagine that ’s the wonderful affair about DC now — we can tell standalone story with their own unique point of sentiment , their own contained earth that does n’t necessarily have a relationship or a connection to anything else in the universe , and the movie stand on its own,”Birds of Prey producer Sue Krollrecently told io9 at the picture show ’s world premiere press junket in London , England .

“ It ’s very free , creatively , ” she continued . “ It allows you to lend in an regalia of filmmaker and voices with different point of view about the material . I think all those link and kinship are n’t necessary , so [ now ] the theme is always ‘ let ’s say the best floor for this picky movie that we ’re making . ’ ”

Margot Robbie and director Cathy Yan on the set of Birds of Prey.

Margot Robbie and director Cathy Yan on the set of Birds of Prey.Image: Claudette Barius (Warner Bros/DC Comics)

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DC has clearly not empty the characters set up in its wash to establish and unite a cinematic Justice League , of course . Wonder Woman 1984will make it later this year off the back of Diana ’s incredibly successful solo debut ; sequels and spinoffs , from moviestostreaming TV , are in the works for Aquaman after the smash - hit success of his ownself - titled film ; and The Flash pic is still on the way , despitemany a setback . razzing of Prey itself is predicate on coming in the wake of the same world Suicide Squad was in , albeit in a radically unlike tone . It is that tonic variety , sustain by the filmmakers Warner Bros. now courts for DC movies , that Kroll believes is the key to theirresurgent critical success .

“ Todd Phillips had a very specific visual modality for the Joker , ” Kroll noted of the film that ’s riding eminent onaward - season bombilation . “ skirt of Prey was always expire to be tell in a very alone , warped , crazy madcap saucy perspective of Harley Quinn . This is her history . This is her view on the world . And it was crucial that it took on that flavor .

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Kroll added , “ There were creative decisions , you make love , that were made very ahead of time . We want to show a unlike interpretation of Gotham people had n’t see . I consider everyone ’s used to a very sleek kind of Gotham , you know ? Manhattan , dark , sleek . This is much more scrappy , rounded — more the bowels of what Gotham might be . So you make creative option and it exists in that man . These elements do n’t need to be carried over to another movie . Another film maker can come up with their own world . And I think that benefits . The consultation gets very dissimilar story each clip . ”

That willingness to woo a variety of linear perspective sits at the nub of Birds of Prey , not just in the decisiveness to bring aboard director Cathy Yan — who had her Sundance - winning debut , Dead Pigs , under her beltbefore boardingthe waste world of comic book of account blockbusters — but in one of the major drive forces for the film both in front of and behind the tv camera : Margot Robbie . She , of course , star as Harley Quinn , but also played a major role in bringing Birds of Prey fromits early conceptionto its box office launching at the end of the calendar week . “ I believe we ’re really very lucky , Margot is very unique — not everybody can do this , ” Kroll said of her working relationship with Robbie as a manufacturer . “ She ’s a fabulous actor , plain , but she also has a really great business sense . And she knows Harley and Harley ’s world better than anybody . And she ’s very organized , very methodical . Very intuitive . Very creative . ”

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“ Our process was very interesting — we would develop lists of potential hoi polloi for all our department heads and research them together . We did everything together , ” Kroll explained , full of congratulations for Robbie ’s ability to bring both her playing and yield experience to Birds of Prey ’s tabular array . “ She was require in all of that early preparation . All of those meeting , conversation , decisions , planning , bring up the gang , auditory sense , cast , and she would stick out into a session , and we ’d utter about the strategy . She was capable to be very silver-tongued with those decisiveness . She could take off her manufacturer hat and put on her doer hat . She had the same responsibilities that Bryan [ Unkeless , Kroll ’s Centennial State - producer ] and I had . ”

Robbie ’s allegiance to Birds of Prey persisted even when the rigors of in reality filming the moving picture shifted her priorities . “ Obviously , thing develop and she was work every day acting — and still be [ with us ] in her trailer in the morning . Or at night after we wrapped . We ’d figure out what we needed to be doing the next day . She was literally require in utterly everything , ” Kroll continued . “ Now what that mean was that she worked a ridiculous amount . We all worked farsighted hours , but , she had a lot she had to think about . ”

Ultimately , Kroll conceive ’ Robbie ’s insight into the originative process on the film did n’t just verbalize to DC ’s new commitment to bringing varied voice to its picture show plans , but help shape Birds of Prey ’s own whirl on Harley Quinn . “ I think [ Margot ] ’s very valuable because her perspective and desire — particularly to how it inform Harley — it was important to have that . She ’s the most familiar with it and the most passionate , ” Kroll concluded . “ It was her idea , initially , to have a missy crowd motion picture . We were able-bodied to have a very unparalleled kind of point - of - view injected into everything that we do . Because you see Harley ’s breaker point of view , Margot ’s point of view , and that duality was very interesting . But she was there with us , every stride , watching daily , the whole thing . Not everybody can do it . But she can . ”

William Duplessie