Movies

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell join 'Birds of Prey'

By Wade Sheridan   |   Sept. 27, 2018 at 11:48 AM
Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been cast in DC's "Birds of Prey" alongside Jurnee Smollett-Bell. File Photo by Christine Chew/UPI Jurnee Smollett-Bell arrives for the 48th NAACP Image Awards on February 11, 2017. File Photo by Christine Chew/UPI

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell have been cast in DC's upcoming female superhero team up film Birds of Prey, starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

Winstead has been cast as Huntress with Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, reported the Los Angeles Times.

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Huntress and Black Canary will be teaming up with Harley Quinn in the film to take down a crime lord in Gotham City. DC Comics characters Cassandra Cain and Renee Montoya will also reportedly be joining the Birds of Prey team.

Huntress will be portrayed in the project as a former mafia princess who turns into a vigilante after her family is killed during a mob hit, Variety reported. Black Canary in the comic books in a highly-skilled street fighter who can unleash an ultrasonic scream.

Birds of Prey is set to be directed by Cathy Yan based off a script by Christina Hodson. The film is set for release on Feb. 7, 2020.

Yan is a former Wall Street Journal reporter who made her feature film debut at the Sundance Film Festival with Dead Pigs. She will be the first Asian woman to ever direct a superhero film.

Robbie first portrayed Quinn, a Batman villain who is the girlfriend of the Joker, in 2016's Suicide Squad. The actress is producing Birds of Prey alongside Sue Kroll and Bryan Unkeless.

Winstead is best known for starring in 10 Cloverfield Lane and in FX series Fargo. Smollett-Bell is best known for her starring in HBO's True Blood and WGN America's Underground.