After Warner Brothers Discovery announced the HBO Max and Discovery+ merger and that Batgirl was shelved, rumors started about whether or not other projects in the DC Universe might end up on the chopping block. Among those that are safe? The standalone Black Canary movie starring Jurnee Smollett. Forbes specified that: “WB has confirmed that the HBO Max project is still in the works and that has not changed even in this post-Batgirl landscape.”
Birds of Prey‘s bat-swinging girl is still planning to step up to the plate for HBO Max.
In the wake of Warner Bros. Discovery abruptly pulling the plug on the nearly complete, Leslie Grace-starring Batgirl movie, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Pictures confirms for TVLine that the Black Canary standalone movie that was first announced a year ago remains in development at the streamer.
Spinning off Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance character from the 2019 feature Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (fka Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), news of the project leaked late last August and was promptly confirmed by both Smollett and frequent collaborator Misha Green, who is penning the script.
“Guess the Canary is out of the cage! 🤪” tweeted Smollett at the time. “So excited to finally embark on this adventure with my creative soul sis
@MishaGreen.”Green likewise tweeted, “We’re just at the very beginning of a loooong journey to the screen, but obvs I couldn’t turn down the chance to put the DAMN in The Black Damn Canary with @jurneesmollett!”
Green and Smollett first collaborated on the 2016 historical drama series Underground (for WGN America), followed by HBO’s undeservedly one-and-done supernatural thriller Lovecraft Country, which was developed for TV by Green and co-starred Smollett as Letitia “Leti” Lewis — who, like Dinah/Black Canary, also proved handy with a baseball bat.
Batgirl was unexpectedly and completely shelved earlier this month, with WarnerBros.
No further details on Black Canary, including its current timetable, are available at this time.
Forbes reports that Green Lantern is also safe, as is the fourth season of the Harley Quinn animated series and its Kite-Man series. Things are less clear for projects like Blue Beetle and Supergirl. I’m glad that Black Canary is still moving forward. As noted in the Jessica Alba post, there is still a dearth of diverse characters in superhero movies no matter the universe, so it’s good that Jurnee will still be able to bring Black Canary / Dinah Lance to screen in her own movie. There are no further details available about the movie, but it was announced a year ago so they’re probably still in writing/development stages. What happened to Batgirl really sucks, but hopefully the fact that WB Discovery confirmed that Black Canary is still moving forward after that news means it will actually come to fruition. Jurnee and her collaborator on Black Canary, Misha Green, also worked together on Underground and Lovecraft Country, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they bring to screen with this project. Superhero movies are much richer when they’re made by someone other than the typical baseball cap bro.
Misha Green and Jurnee Smollett Developing ‘Birds of Prey’ Spinoff Movie Focused on Black Canary for HBO Max https://t.co/oft45pp8RP
— Variety (@Variety) August 21, 2021
“In development” huh? LOL. Yeah, I’ll bet it is.
In all seriousness that’s careful wording from WB. Projects can be “in development” for literally years without moving an inch. And when the heat dies down on this current debacle they are going to have “creative differences” and it’s “bye bye!”. So basically I’ll believe it when I see it.
“In development” and “Actor #1 is attached to this project” are phrases that mean next to nothing in knowing if a project will actually happen. I wonder if Hollywood understands how far we can all now see behind the curtain?
I love love love loved her in Birds of Prey and I still can’t believe that’s Michelle’s little friend from Full House.
hope this happens. Love Jurnee and exited for her move to the big screen.