Following the recent casting of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress and Jurnee Smollet-Bell as Black Canary, The Wrap reports that Academy Award nominee Rosie Perez (Fearless) has signed on for the role of Renee Montoya in DC Films’ upcoming Birds of Prey movie. Cathy Yan will direct the film which is set to be released on February 7, 2020.
Montoya is one of the leading characters in the Birds of Prey movie; however, it’s unclear if Montoya will be the vigilante known as The Question. In the comics, Montoya is an openly gay police detective at the Gotham City Police Department who was once in a relationship with Batwoman.
RELATED: Birds of Prey Release Date Set for February 2020
The Birds of Prey project was initially announced ahead of the release of Suicide Squad in summer 2016, with Warner Bros. developing the film with Robbie’s Harley Quinn as the villain and featuring a number of female DC characters, with the likes of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey reportedly also in the mix for the film. The script was penned by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), who was recently announced to take over scripting duties on DC’s Batgirl solo movie after Joss Whedon’s departure.
Robbie herself was the springboard for the project, having fallen for the pantheon of DC’s female characters in her extensive research for the role of Harley Quinn. The Birds of Prey project will now apparently take priority as the next film to feature the popular Quinn character, with production expected to begin by the end of 2018 or early 2019. A Suicide Squad sequel to be directed by Gavin O’Connor is also in active development, but Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s Harley Quinn Vs The Joker romance movie and David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens now appear to be on the backburner.
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