Although there was a lot of promise forBirds of Prey, it ended up underperforming at the box office (partly due to hitting theatersaround the time that COVID went worldwide) and received lukewarm reviews, at best. The main criticism levied against the movie was that it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. It was either aDeadpool-style fourth-wall-breaking comedy led by Harley Quinn or a team-up movie anchored by an ensemble, and those two premises were at odds. According to director Cathy Yan, this was the result of interference byWarner Bros.
In a recent interview with The Playlist, Yan compared her experiences working with a big budget onBirds of Preytoworking with a smaller budgeton her directorial debutDead Pigs. WhileDead Pigswas “a singular, pure version" of herself, Yan says that dealing with the nine-figure budget ofBirds of Preywas “definitely challenging” because she faced “pressures” from Warner Bros., and the studio was “undergoing a lot of change” at the time. The director explained, “inevitably, you end up having to compromise and fight for stuff. And you win some and you lose a lot. It’s just kind of how it is.”
RELATED:Birds of Prey Director Cathy Yan Fought to Keep Controversial Scene in the Film
Warner Bros. tapped Yan to helmBirds of PreyafterDead Pigsemerged as one of the biggest critical hits of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Margot Robbie was attached toBirds of Preyas a producer to avoid the overt sexualization of Harley Quinn thathad been seen inSuicide Squad, but ultimately, since the studio executives are the ones stumping up $100 million, they’re the ones who get the final say when there’s a creative disagreement. After giving Yan more or less full creative control during pre-production and production, Warner Bros. stepped in during post-production.
According to Yan, studio interference is just part of the deal when making a big-budget blockbuster: “I would have loved to have more control over the edit, but that’s just kind of how it is.” Yan added, “I don’t know if there’s a Cathy Yan cut out there,” so don’t go startingany movements like#ReleaseTheSnyderCut or #ReleaseTheAyerCutjust yet. But she did acknowledge that tampering by the studio isn’t conducive to creativity, because the goal of making movies is “to match what you ultimately see on screen with what’s in our head.”
AlthoughBirds of Preydidn’t make enough money at the box officeto warrant a sequel, Yan hasn’t ruled out directing another big-budget movie if the story is interesting. She explained, “I would not discount ever doing [a big studio movie] again. I try not to think of whether I would do this type of movie or that type of movie again, or whether I’d work with this studio or that. But more like, ‘Is this story compelling?’” She added that she’s interested in working more from her own scripts (Birds of Preywas penned by Christina Hodson) in order to “have a little bit more control over the story I’m telling.”
Over the years, Warner Bros. has become notorious for tampering with filmmakers’ visions for DCEU movies. The studio hired the editors ofSuicide Squad’s well-received preview to completely recut David Ayer’s movie as, bascially, a feature-length trailer and forced Zack Snyder to keepJustice Leagueunder two hours after thelengthy runtime ofBatman v Supermanwas criticized. So, the fact that they altered Yan’s vision forBirds of Preyis hardly surprising.
Birds of Preyis now available on HBO Max.
MORE:James Gunn Says ‘The Suicide Squad’ Is Done And Had Almost No Studio Interference
