Suicide Squad 2 May Start Filming in 2019

Suicide Squad 2 may start filming in 2019 now. Shortly after launching their unofficially titled DC Extended Universe (DCEU) with Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in early 2016, Warner Bros. continued to expand their then-burgeoning shared universe with David Ayer's Suicide Squad in August 2016. The film didn't land well critically, but it did become an enormous commercial success, which is why the studio is not only moving forward with a sequel but also multiple spinoffs.

One of Suicide Squad's biggest achievements was successfully establishing Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Robbie is now working with Warner Bros. to develop several Harley Quinn-related projects, such as Ayer's Gotham City Sirens as well as a Joker/Harley Quinn spinoff, and a potential standalone film focusing only on her character. That's all in addition to her presumably appearing in Suicide Squad 2, which was supposed to go into production this fall but seems to have been pushed back to next year.

Variety's Justin Kroll reports on Twitter that Suicide Squad 2 may start filming in 2019 now. It was previously slated to enter production in March 2018, but various circumstances had the start date pushed back to October 2018, with filming potentially set to take place in the United Kingdom. But now, it seems Suicide Squad 2 won't start rolling cameras until 2019, meaning fans shouldn't expect to see the sequel in theaters until 2020 at the earliest.

There are multiple reasons for Suicide Squad 2's production delay; the main reason being that Warner Bros. seems to be prioritizing Birds of Prey. Christina Hodson wrote the script, and Warners was so pleased with her take on the story and characters that they hired her to also write the script for Batgirl, who's part of the Birds of Prey team. It seems that the studio is looking to introduce a number of characters in the team-up movie and then spin them off into either solo movies or other team-up installments, beginning with Batgirl. And now, with a script and a director attached, Birds of Prey is looking to start filming later this year, perhaps in the same slot Suicide Squad 2 was previously placed in.

Furthermore, this move is presumably due to potential scheduling conflicts with some of the film's main stars. In addition to Margot Robbie being tied up with Birds of Prey this year, Will Smith may also have some difficulty making time for Suicide Squad 2. He only recently wrapped on Disney's Aladdin, and he's now currently filming Ang Lee's Gemini Man. But then he's expected to potentially start filming Bad Boys 3 in August (or later).

This falls in line with recent comments from Joel Kinnaman, who said that there is a big priority at the studio to get Suicide Squad 2 right this time around, at least with regard to critical ratings and adhering to the source material. Given that Gavin O'Connor was only recently brought on as writer and director, it's presumable that he's still working out all the kinks in the script. So, if Warner Bros. is only able to get one Harley Quinn-related project in the can this year, they want it to be Birds of Prey, not Suicide Squad 2.