SO ABOUT THAT HARLEY QUINN MOVIE . . . -

WARNER BROS. MAY HAVE GIVEN A HARLEY QUINN SOLO MOVIE STARRING MARGOT ROBBIE THE GREEN LIGHT, BUT DON’T START HOLDING YOUR BREATH JUST QUITE YET

Last week Warner Bros. made it official; there is going to be a Harley Quinn solo movie starring Margot Robbie.

Just don’t ask when it will be.

While some fans were jumping for joy and clicking their heels in delight, they should probably rein in their excitement horses just a little. The announcement that Margot Robbie will be reprising her popular role from this summer’s comic book blockbuster Suicide Squad in a spin off film wasn’t exactly your typical Hollywood press release, full of hyperbolic hoopla. It had the dry tone of a minor business story, like a merger or an adjustment to interest rates.

In short its because the eventual title is a side deal resulting from a new business arrangement between Robbie and the studio.

Warner Bros. recently signed Robbie-or more importantly her production company LuckyChap Entertainment-to a first look deal. In plain English that means Warner Bros. will get first dibs on every project that Robbie and company are working on. If Warner Brothers passes, LuckyChap will be free to shop it to other studios. One of the films Warner will be doing as a result will be a Harley Quinn solo movie that Robbie will produce as well as star in. But both the star and the studio have plenty on their plate first.

Robbie is committed to the assassin pic Terminal and an as yet untitled movie focusing on children’s author A.A. Milne (both scheduled for release before the end of 2017). She’s also signed to star in The Queen of the Air, is developing a biopic of Tanya Harding and is working on an adaptation of Mike Ruff’s novel Bad Monkeys for Universal Studios. In short she’ll be pretty busy for the foreseeable future and it’ll likely be a while before she can fit Harley into her hectic schedule.

And as far as Warner Bros. is concerned, they’ve made little noise about a Harley Quinn movie even though rumours of a spin off were flying even before Suicide Squad was released. Their super hero slate is scheduled right through to 2020 and while they moved some titles around to accommodate Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film when it was announced earlier this year, they haven’t touched their schedule at all since this announcement. Given Robbie’s schedule and the fact Warner hasn’t even announced the inevitable Suicide Squad sequel yet, it could five or more years before we see Harley’s solo adventure.

And a little bit of time may turn out to be a good thing for Harley’s turn in the spotlight. Word is that not only did Robbie fall in love with her Suicide Squad character, but she also wants to use a Harley Quinn movie to introduce and focus on DC’s other female characters (with names like Poison Ivy and Batgirl topping the list). Rushing that kind of project would most likely be a mistake (especially in Hollywood’s post Ghostbusters gender landscape).

This is just the latest chapter in the 26 year-old Australian actress’ partnership with Warner Bros. Before turning heads in Suicide Squad, she previously starred in The Legend of Tarzan (released only a month before Squad) and Focus opposite future Suicide Squad co-star Will Smith. She also starred in last spring’s Whiskey Tango Foxtrot but her breakout role was in 2013’s Wolf of Wall Street.