#Black Canary Movie Is Happening at HBO Max with Jurnee Smollett

A Black Canary movie is in the works. After debuting in the role alongside Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, Jurnee Smollett will reportedly return as Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary, in her own spinoff movie for HBO Max. Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green is also on board to write the screenplay, with Sue Kroll (Birds of Prey) producing under her Kroll & Co. Entertainment banner. The project is in early development with no release date yet announced.

It’s unclear if Green will also direct but that seems to be a good possibility if her schedule allows it. The project marks a reunion as Smollett starred in Green’s shows Underground on WGN and Lovecraft Country on HBO, the latter of which was controversially cancelled after one season. While promoting the series, both Green and Smollett had indicated that they’d be up for exploring the Black Canary character further in a new project for the DCEU.
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“It’s no secret how much I love Black Canary. It’s a dream, character and was a dream to play her,” Smollett told Variety last year. “If [the] dynamics fell in the right way, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat, and Lord knows, I follow Misha wherever she leads me.” Green added: “I mean, you can’t help but imagine it a little bit… like, ‘What would I do with a Black Canary show?’ It’d be exciting, I know that.”

Jurnee Smollett made her debut as Black Canary in last year’s Birds of Prey, directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson. A Suicide Squad spinoff, the movie brought in Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn to form the Birds of Prey group after having a falling out with the Joker. Along with Robbie as Harley and Smollett as Black Canary, Birds of Prey also starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli, aka The Huntress, and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya.

Who knows when Misha Green will find the time to write the Black Canary script. It has also been announced that she’ll be writing and producing the upcoming action-thriller The Mother with Jennifer Lopez for Netflix along with a Tomb Raider sequel with Alicia Vikander for Netflix. Smollett is no less busy herself. After scoring an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nomination for her role in Green’s Lovecraft Country, Smollett can be seen in the upcoming Netflix movies Escape from Spiderhead and Lou.

The DCEU will meanwhile be expanding rapidly with many other movies and shows developed exclusively for HBO Max. After recently premiering in theaters, The Suicide Squad will get the spinoff series Peacemaker in January. It’s also been reported that Michael B. Jordan is developing a Val-Zod Superman project for the streamer. Other projects recently announced for HBO Max include Blue Beetle with Xolo Mariduena and Batgirl with Leslie Grace.

Because Black Canary is still in the very early stages of development, there’s no word at this time when the project will make its way to HBO Max. For now, you can watch Birds of Prey on the streamer to see Smollett in the role. This news comes to us from Cinelinx.

Topics: Birds of Prey