The continuity of the DC Extended Universe has just gotten even more confusing.
Despite centering around Margot Robbie's version of Harley Quinn, Birds of Prey producer Sue Kroll stated that the film will have no ties to Suicide Squad — the only other film in which Robbie's Harley appeared. During a set visit by ScreenRant, Kroll stated, definitively:
"You’ll see it in the movie, it's a standalone movie, it's not connected to Suicide Squad. It's not a sequel, it's not a continuation of that story. So it has nothing to do with her break out of prison. But you're right, and we've been very upfront that this is about her emancipation. She and the Joker have broken up. This is her personal journey of discovery with these women. So it's not related at all, so don't try to apply linear logic to how the two go, because they don't."
Kroll also said that she does not consider the new film — fully titled Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) — to have any similarities to 2016's Suicide Squad film, and that Birds of Prey is instead an opportunity to celebrate the amazing character that Harley is.
Suicide Squad was a critical disaster, despite it bringing in $746 million at the box office. And it is not the only film Warner Bros. has distanced itself from. Justice League, which was both a critical and commercial failure, has also received the cold shoulder from the studio in terms of sequels and continuity.
Directed by Cathy Yan from a script by Christina Hodson, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) stars Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ewan McGregor, Steven Williams, Derek Wilson, Dana Lee, Francois Chau, Charlene Amoia, Chris Messina and Matthew Willig. The film is scheduled for release on Feb. 7, 2020.