Cathy Yan could make history as the first Asian woman to direct a major studio superhero movie.
Deadline reports DC Entertainment is looking to sign Yan to direct the upcoming Birds of Prey–inspired film. The comic series features a vigilante team of Harley Quinn, Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, and Huntress. For the film, only Quinn has officially been announced to appear. Margot Robbie, who played the crazed villain-turned-hero in Suicide Squad, will reprise her role.
Deadline notes that Yan got the offer after an "exceptional" presentation in addition to Robbie's holding "firm to her desire for this film to be directed by a woman." And, with just one indie under her belt, Yan would become the third woman hired to sit in a DC director's chair after Patty Jenkins helmed 2017's Wonder Woman and Ava DuVernay was tapped for New Gods. She's also the second director of Asian descent alongside James Wan, whose Aquaman drops this December.
Christina Hodson, who wrote the Transformers spinoff film Bumblebee, penned this one and is set to script Batgirl for DC next. Variety reporter Justin Kroll says the Birds of Prey adaptation will be a jumping-off point for characters to venture into their solo films as well.
Production is slated to begin at the end of the year alongside Suicide Squad 2.
Yan's indie darling Dead Pigs won the World Cinema Dramatic Award for Ensemble Acting at Sundance this year. The film, about a group of misfits trying to solve the mystery of why thousands of dead pigs are floating down a river in Shanghai, also stars Zazie Beatz, who will play Domino in Marvel's Deadpool 2.
