DC’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) movie officially receives an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for “strong violence and language throughout, and some sexual and drug material.” Incidentally, Birds of Prey becomes the first DCEU film to receive an R rating, and will seemingly be significantly more provocative than the latest franchise installment Shazam!.
That may not come as a huge surprise to moviegoers who expected edgy content matter, but many have speculated the film would be relatively tame in comparison to recent comic adaptations like Joker. With that said, Birds of Prey opening weekend box office projections have it being the DCEU’s least successful opening weekend release.
In Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie made her franchise debut as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s charismatic yet troubled love interest. Birds of Prey will instead address the backstory of Robbie’s character, but won’t be a direct sequel to Suicide Squad, nor will it necessarily be a Harley Quinn-focused movie. Birds of Prey will explore the various arcs for the titular squad consisting of Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Dinah Laurel Lance aka Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). Birds of Prey was written by Christina Hodson and directed by Cathy Yan.
