Birds of Prey spin-off movie Black Canary in the works at HBO Max

A Birds of Prey spin-off movie is happening at HBO Max focusing on the character of Black Canary played by Jurnee Smollett, with Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green on board to write the script.

This upcoming spin-off marks the third collaboration for the pair, who worked together on Underground and Lovecraft Country, the latter sadly canceled after one season, and the duo are excited to be teaming up again.

Both took to Twitter to confirm the announcement, says Smollett : “Guess the Canary is out of the cage! So excited to finally embark on this adventure with my creative soul sis @mishagreen.”

Green chimed in: "We're just at the very beginning of a loooong journey to the screen, but obvs I couldn't turn down the chance to put the DAMN in The Black Damn Canary with @jurneesmollett!"

Last year in discussion with EW, Smollett said she'd reprise the role "in a heartbeat." She went on to add, "It's no secret how much I loved playing Black Canary, and [I was] so honored to take on that mantle. I would absolutely do it again if given a chance."

For the spin-off, Smollett will reprise the part of Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary, a singer who fans first met on screen in last year's Birds of Prey film. The upcoming spin-off will focus solely on Lance, whose special powers as a metahuman enable her to dish out ultrasonic screams. In Birds of Prey, she is the driver to Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) before she joins the ranks of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).

Birds of Prey producer Sue Kroll is also on board to produce the Black Canary film under Kroll & Co Entertainment, adding that extra connection to the Cathy Yan-directed film which received rave reviews.

The Black Canary spin-off movie joins a steadily-growing raft of DC titles at HBO Max. On the slate, we've got the Batgirl movie, starring In the Heights' Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, directed by Bad Boys 4 Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and written by Birds of Prey scribe Christina Hodson, a Black Superman series starring Michael B. Jordan, and a Blue Beetle movie with Cobra Kai's Xolo Maridueña attached to star. Phew.

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.