Official: Gotham City Sirens directed by David Ayer

[Closerframe]

I'll give WB credit, they at least seem more receptive to fan feedback than Marvel/Disney. They must really like what they're seeing with Suicide Squad and Robbie's performance to discuss something like this so soon. This could perhaps be their plan for how they handle Suicide Squad sequels; feature a group of characters in their own independent films as they team up with even more newly introduced characters. That being said, this easily has Gotham City Sirens written all over it. Bringing Ivy into the mix would provide the more mythical elements to the film that we're seeing from the Enchantress, Diablo, and Tattoo Man in Suicide Squad. On the hero side, Batgirl, Black Canary, and Zatanna would play well off of one another.

 

[The_Manhunter]

I don't like the Harley Quinn character to begin with - this seems like a blatant feminist movie.

As evidenced by my sig I love DC films but I really have no interest in a HQ-led film.

 

[Snow Queen]

I don't like the Harley Quinn character to begin with - this seems like a blatant feminist movie.

Oh the unspeakable horrors.

 

[Loki882]

Yes how dare they make one of those. It's not like 99% of superhero/CBM's that have been released were focused around men or oh wait, yes they are.

 

[Closerframe]

I don't like the Harley Quinn character to begin with - this seems like a blatant feminist movie.

 

[terry78]

We got DJ Girls Have Cooties on the 1s and 2s tonight.

 

[SuperT]

I don't like the Harley Quinn character to begin with - this seems like a blatant feminist movie.

A superhero movie that doesn't have men at the center of everything? BURN THE WITCHES!

 

[third3ye]

This feels like a film concept that WB should've greenlit AFTER seeing the reception for Suicide Squad. Totally feels like a Diane Nelson push, not just because she's a woman but because she was the one who championed DC Superhero Girls. Again I don't have an issue with this concept, but this seems incredibly premature. Felt the same when they announced Suicide Squad, that's a film that really should be released further down the DCEU road.

 

[FunkMiller]

I don't like the Harley Quinn character to begin with - this seems like a blatant feminist movie.
.

Or, you know, a movie with some originality and a different mind-set.

I understand how that kind of thing scares people.

 

[jmc]

It's not a feminist move, it's a premature one. WB's quality control is at present hit and miss at best, so even if they are confident in SS I'm not willing to believe it actually is based on recent movies.

 

[SuperT]

I don't think Suicide Squad under-performing would be any indication on how successful this would be. In fact, I think this will do gangbusters at the box office, regardless of how SS performs. The demand for a female led superhero movie is through the stratosphere at this point. The fact that these studios haven't picked up on that since the genre really hit the roof in 2008 is crazy.

This will be huge no matter what.

 

[atomicbattery]

This will be huge no matter what.

I strongly agree. I also hope that this has the largest female presence in cast and crew of any big production in Hollywood history. Except for one thing- this is the film that Paul Dini was born to write.

 

[Boy Scout]

I want to be excited for this, but it feels like they're jumping the gun again, just like they did with DOJ.

 

[jmc]

I don't think Suicide Squad under-performing would be any indication on how successful this would be. In fact, I think this will do gangbusters at the box office, regardless of how SS performs. The demand for a female led superhero movie is through the stratosphere at this point. The fact that these studios haven't picked up on that since the genre really hit the roof in 2008 is crazy.

This will be huge no matter what.

WB actually has probably the better roster of female characters at their disposal, so this concept on paper is great. The only problem is I believe this news is being released to divert attention from the negativity around the DCEU. WB have questionable judgement right now when it comes to superheroes so I'm taking their confidence in SS with a grain of salt.

 

[atomicbattery]

On a side note, I am very surprised that this story was not broken by the birth.marvel.death. guy, who we know to have at least seven sources deep within the dceu.
I do predict, however, that sometime during production he'll break a story that the project is problematic or deeply troubled.

 

[Greens]

I don't think Suicide Squad under-performing would be any indication on how successful this would be. In fact, I think this will do gangbusters at the box office, regardless of how SS performs. The demand for a female led superhero movie is through the stratosphere at this point. The fact that these studios haven't picked up on that since the genre really hit the roof in 2008 is crazy.

This will be huge no matter what.

The demand is through the stratosphere? How do you know, was there a survey? A study? Within the CBM fan community, sure. The general audience? I don't think this is on most people's minds.

If Suicide Squad under-performs and Harley Quinn is NOT a stand-out character that people really like, of course it has an effect on this movie.

 

[third3ye]

The demand for a female led superhero movie is through the stratosphere at this point. The fact that these studios haven't picked up on that since the genre really hit the roof in 2008 is crazy.

This will be huge no matter what.

This is an incredibly speculative statement and not consistent with the consumer research I've seen. A lot of the target female audience (both children and adult) generally only care about male superheroes because those are the characters they're familiar with. Wonder Woman and Supergirl are the only exceptions within DC and also why they're the central characters for the DC Superhero Girls franchise. Harley Quinn does not have anywhere near the unaided awareness of these two, so introducing a female squad around her just seems ill-advised when most of the characters on this roster are probably complete unknowns to the GA. The logical approach would be to introduce female heroes/villains over the course of several DCEU films, and THEN to team them up based on GA reception. Black Widow wasn't a household name until ScarJo had 2-3 MCU films under her belt, and it wasn't until AoU that her minimized role and small merchandising footprint were called out in social media.

At the end of the day, if DC can give us a high quality film with wide-reaching public and critical appeal (something the DCEU has yet to provide), then none of what I said will matter. Quality trumps all, and audiences won't flock to see this because it's a female squad, but rather because it's just a plain ol' good movie. GotG and Deadpool were able to pull this off, and their success had nothing to do with the underlying IP.

 

[atomicbattery]

This is an incredibly speculative statement and not consistent with the consumer research I've seen. A lot of the target female audience (both children and adult) generally only care about male superheroes because those are the characters they're familiar with. Wonder Woman and Supergirl are the only exceptions within DC and also why they're the central characters for the DC Superhero Girls franchise. Harley Quinn does not have anywhere near the unaided awareness of these two, so introducing a female squad around her just seems ill-advised when most of the characters on this roster are probably complete unknowns to the GA. The logical approach would be to introduce female heroes/villains over the course of several DCEU films, and THEN to team them up based on GA reception. Black Widow wasn't a household name until ScarJo had 2-3 MCU films under her belt, and it wasn't until AoU that her minimized role and small merchandising footprint were called out in social media.

At the end of the day, if DC can give us a high quality film with wide-reaching public and critical appeal (something the DCEU has yet to provide), then none of what I said will matter. Quality trumps all, and audiences won't flock to see this because it's a female squad, but rather because it's just a plain ol' good movie. GotG and Deadpool were able to pull this off, and their success had nothing to do with the underlying IP.

This is more about Katniss (as is the Tomb Raider reboot) than current GA awareness of female comics characters. It's also about 'Frozen', and more merchandising opportunities than Hunger Games ever presented. As you mentioned, WB is seeding this with DC SuperHero Girls.
And, since we must have the obligatory comparison to Marvel, I would propose that not only are Supergirl and Wonder Women higher in GA awareness than any Marvel female characters, so are Catwoman, Batgirl and Harley (mostly from larger media exposure outside of comics).
It may also be worth noting that these have always been in-house Warner intellectual properties, and any profit they generate is pure. As opposed to paying off a four billion dollar acquisition. So many conveniently forget that.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Could be a smart move.

If it can tap into that Pitch Perfect / Bridesmaids market, then I can see this doing well, so long as the budget it modest.

And if I'm not mistaken, the past few DC movies didn't have a relatively great turnout from female audiences, so I could see this being a response to that.

 

[Omegabat]

I honestly think they should have announced this a while back and Batman Beyond too. Both make heck of a lot more sense than Cyborg and frankly even GL and Flash.

 

[Flan-chan]

Could be a smart move.

If it can tap into that Pitch Perfect / Bridesmaids market, then I can see this doing well, so long as the budget it modest.

And if I'm not mistaken, the past few DC movies didn't have a relatively great turnout from female audiences, so I could see this being a response to that.

I don't think you're giving female audiences enough credit. Plenty of women enjoy traditional superhero movies, changing the gender ratio of the leads doesn't mean there has to be a genre shift.

 

[SuperT]

The demand is through the stratosphere? How do you know, was there a survey? A study? Within the CBM fan community, sure. The general audience? I don't think this is on most people's minds.

One only needs to look at the current movie climate to see that there's a huge demand for female-led projects in Hollywood in general, regardless of genre.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

I think we male fans have been catered to for too long if two female led movies from each studio is considered pandering. It's not like they're cancelling Batman for this.

 

[BMCAABY]

This is fantastic!. This is pretty much like a female Deadpool movie. They can include so much chaos and insanity but make outright entertaining. On the same lines as Deadpool.
I would go see this over Black Widow or Captain Marvel movie. Honestly would rather see than anything Snyder will be working on. Edgar Wright would be a perfect choice for this film as it is sort of like Scott Pilgrim except even crazier. Plus since this is not widely cared for character like Deadpool theres not much risk so the studio won't be interfering too much.

 

[Breogan]

[YT]fAFP0IoMfsA[/YT]

Oh yes I remember thinking Brave and the Bold was the most kiddy Batman, suddenly an entire song about Superhero-penises? LOL!