Has Gotham City Sirens Been Put On Hold?

Despite director David Ayer assuring fans that the Harley Quinn-led Gotham City Sirens was still in development as of December, a new report suggests that the film may not be happening, after all.

Harley Quinn has been a fan-favorite character for quite some time, however, it wasn’t until Suicide Squad that the character’s popularity truly soared; something that became clear once the studio continued to announce multiple spin-off films centered around Margot Robbie’s Harley: a Harley & Joker film, Gotham City Sirens, Birds of Prey, and an unknown separate project, were all said to be in development on top of her return for Suicide Squad 2. However, a new report from The Wrap suggests not all of the previously announced spin-offs may be happening, after all. In their write-up of the three “options” Robbie has to consider for her return as Harley, the outlet only names Suicide Squad 2, Birds of Prey and Joker vs. Harley, seeming eliminating Gotham City Sirens as a possible project — for now.

While this report isn’t confirmed, the news wouldn’t be too surprising. After all, David Ayer was announced as the director of the spin-off and, despite him continuing to tease the project, he’s found himself rather busy. Despite his most recent film, Bright, proving to be a critical bomb, Netflix quickly ordered a sequel with Ayer returning to both write and direct. This would easily prevent Ayer from devoting his time to Gotham City Sirens for the foreseeable future, and Warner Bros. is probably eager to move forward with one of the other Harley Quinn projects they’ve had in development in order to cash in on the character’s popularity. And with Robbie having teased a return to the character “quite soon,” it would make sense that Gotham City Sirens is temporarily on the back-burner.

Does this mean the film won’t ever happen? No, things could always change. However, following the lukewarm reception to Justice League, Warner Bros. has shaken things up with DC Films to try and right their wrongs. They’ve brought in a new President of DC-Based Film Production, Walter Hamada, who will work closely with Geoff Johns on future projects. With a new team behind the scenes, this means that despite having announced multiple projects as being in development over the years, not all of those films will actually come to fruition.

Thankfully, fans eager to see Robbie return as Harley Quinn won’t have to wait too much longer. Filming on Suicide Squad 2 is set to kickoff this Fall with Gavin O’Connor taking on double duty as both the writer and director. As of right now, a release date has not been set for the film.