It seems to be a trend for directors who have directed DC/Warner Bros. films feel as if they didn’t have the freedom they would have liked. We’ve seen David Ayer express this over Suicide Squad. And Zack Snyder had a whole movement due to expressing how different his vision for Justice League was from what Warner Bros. put out.
So, it should come as no surprise that Cathy Yan follows the same sentiment. The director of Birds of Prey, which came out in 2020 and garnered mixed reactions, expresses she would have liked more control over the film:
“It was definitely challenging. ‘Dead Pigs’ was such a singular, pure version of myself. And I think when you’re dealing with a budget like [‘Birds of Prey’ had] and the sort of pressures of a studio, especially a studio that is undergoing a lot of change, 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. I would have loved to have more control over the edit [of ‘Birds of Prey’],” she continued. “But that’s just kind of how it is. I don’t know if there’s a Cathy Yan cut out there, but I think for any filmmaker, all of us are in it because we want to express ourselves as wholly as possible. And to match what you ultimately see on screen with what’s in our head.”
Yan then commented on Ayer’s cut of Suicide Squad, which is trying to get the same traction the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut got:
“I do know that there was a very different tone of movie that [Ayer] had planned for ‘Suicide Squad’ that never really made it,” Yan said. “And so, if he gets to show his cut or get to take another stab at it, then that’s an insanely wonderful opportunity.”
Yan then commented, in response to how directing Birds of Prey affected her mindset about big-budget blockbuster films:
“Yes and no. I never did [‘Birds of Prey’] in the first place so that I could say I did a big movie or blockbuster movie. I actually very much did it because I thought the script was interesting. And the fact that I got the chance to depict women, especially female superheroes, in a way that we haven’t really seen before, like neither perfect nor weak, you know? I think it’s [typically] either-or really. I enjoyed that challenge of being able to subvert the genre a little bit.”
Yan continued:
“I would not discount ever doing it 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?’ And I’m also a writer/director. So, in that case, my big lesson is that I want to continue to do that and have a little bit more control over the story I’m telling.”
What do you think about Yan’s comments? How did you feel about Birds of Prey?
Source: The Playlist
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