Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary, is getting a solo movie.
According to Cinelinx, a Black Canary movie from writer Misha Green is in early development at HBO Max. While details about the project are being kept under wraps, a source told the website that the film would likely follow on from the events of the 2020 DC flick Birds of Prey, in which Smollett made her debut appearance as Black Canary.
In Birds of Prey, Black Canary is introduced as a burlesque singer who rescues Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) from an attempted abduction and later becomes the driver for crime lord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor). After betraying Roman, Black Canary reveals her metahuman ability of supersonic-level screaming and joins Harley, The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) to form the titular team.
It’s not clear whether Green will direct the Black Canary film or merely write the script. But Collider revealed that Birds of Prey producer Sue Kroll will produce the Black Canary movie under her Kroll & Co. Entertainment banner.
While HBO Max has yet to officially announce the film, Smollett confirmed the project via Twitter. “Guess the Canary is out of the cage!” the actress wrote in a post retweeting Collider’s story. “So excited to finally embark on this adventure with my creative soul sis @MishaGreen. #blackcanary #dinahlance #lettttssssssgoooooo ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
The timing of the reports about the Black Canary movie is interesting, as Smollett and Green just revealed earlier this month that both of them would love to further explore the character of Black Canary in a project.
“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 when asked if she would like to work with Green on some sort of Black Canary project. “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.”
HBO Max’s Black Canary project is a long way off, as Green has a number of other movies in the works that she must finish first. Green is writing and producing Netflix’s action-thriller The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez and is also attached to direct Tomb Raider 2 for MGM.
After starring in the one-season HBO series Lovecraft Country, Smollett will be next seen in two Netflix movies: Escape from Spiderhead with Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, and Lou with Allison Janney.
The Black Canary movie is the latest addition to the list of DC superhero films currently in the works at HBO Max. It joins the previously announced Batgirl starring Leslie Grace and Blue Beetle with Xolo Maridueña in the title role.