Judging by all the recent announcements, including a planned ‘Dirty Dozen’ reboot film (in the vein of “Mission: Impossible” and ‘Fast & Furious’), you wouldn’t be crazy to think that David Ayer has moved on from the world of superhero films and that proposed “Bright” sequel over at Netflix. However, according to a recent TCA panel featuring the filmmaker (via /Film), Ayer updates the status of his various forgotten film projects and they’re not nearly as dead as you might assume.
One of the biggest projects that Ayer has been attached to, which has been teased since 2016’s debut of “Suicide Squad,” is the DC superhero team-up film “Gotham City Sirens.” You may remember that after the aforementioned ‘Squad’ became a hit, Warner Bros. put a ton of spin-off films into development, including a “Joker” solo film (completely different than the Todd Phillips film), a “Joker & Harley Quinn” project (which seems to have been killed), “Birds of Prey” (which is arriving in theaters next month), and “Gotham City Sirens.”
Well, considering that it was rumored to be a similar type of film to “Birds of Prey,” many just assumed that ‘Sirens’ was going to eventually get shelved and forgotten, in favor of Cathy Yan’s upcoming film. While development has stalled, it appears that it’s not dead…yet.
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“No, I think it’s on pause,” Ayer confirmed.
Obviously, if ‘Birds’ is a huge hit, WB will likely continue to look at other options for future films, which might include ‘Sirens,’ which is another film that combines female DC heroes into one story.
Speaking of upcoming DC films, there’s that whole ‘Squad’ sequel/reboot thing that James Gunn is helming. Well, Ayer said that before Gunn was involved, he could have taken over the project.
“I had a chance to do it, but I went another way,” the filmmaker revealed.
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Remember “Bright?” Well, the Netflix Original was a huge hit for the streaming service, despite suffering pretty terrible reviews. And adding to the black eye is the fact that the film’s writer Max Landis became embroiled in a #MeToo controversy. But nevertheless, Netflix wants a sequel and despite the delay, it appears Ayer is still working on it.
“Still in development,” Ayer said. “We’re working on it so hopefully we’ll be able to mount that up soon.”
He added, “It’s a great opportunity for all of us to explore the world more. I think people felt like there was a lot of doorways to explore. People were like, ‘Tell us about the dragon. Tell us about this, the history.’ So it’s a very rich world and I think we’re going to drill down some more.”
So, there you have it — “Bright 2” is still in the works and “Gotham City Sirens” is on “pause.” Update your David Ayer Release Date Calendars accordingly.
