Entertainment
Censored version of Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey ‘mistakenly added’ to HBO Max
HBO Max is mistakenly streaming the edited TV version (Picture: Warner Bros/Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)
HBO Max subscribers in the US were left confused after sitting down to watch Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, if we’re being formal) and being met with an edited message at the beginning.
A disclaimer at the beginning of the 2020 DC movie, starring Margot Robbie, read: ‘This film has been modified as follows from its original version: it has been edited for content.’
As reported by CBR, the censorship of the R-rated movie was most obvious in a scene featuring Rosie Perez as tough-talking Detective Montoya, where a phrase on her NSFW T-shirt ‘had been clearly edited’, with a screenshot revealing parts of the slogan had been pixelated.
The film was also listed with a TV-14 rating, seemingly confirming that it was the television edit of the movie, rather than the full-throttle version seen in cinemas and expected on streaming platforms.
In a statement seen by IGN, a Warner Bros spokesperson confirmed that the broadcast cable version of Birds of Prey was ‘mistakenly added to the service’, and that ‘the unedited original version will be available on HBO Max instead’.
No timeframe was given as to the fixing of the issue.
The Birds of Prey were not singing quite so loudly following edits (Picture: Warner Bros/Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)
Birds of Prey was the first DC movie to be given an R rating in the US upon its initial release, although the extended (ultimate) edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice moved that film from a PG-13 to an R.
Since Birds of Prey’s release, 2021 saw both Zack Snyder’s The Justice League and The Suicide Squad given R ratings.
CBR also referenced a previous time a censored version of a popular film had accidentally been added to a streaming service, with Netflix hosting a TV version of Back to the Future: Part II which showed a poorly edited out reference to Marty McFly reading an adult magazine.
Since Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad has recieved an R rating (Picture: Warner Bros)
Screenwriter Bob Gale explained to The Hollywood Reporter when the issue was spotted in May 2020: ‘The blame is on Universal who somehow furnished Netflix an edited version of the movie.’
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He added: ‘I learned about it some 10 days ago from an eagle-eyed fan, and had the studio rectify the error. The version now running is the uncensored, unedited, original version.’
Meanwhile, Zoë Kravitz has teased DC fans over a pretty epic Batman/Bruce Wayne heading our way in the shape of Robert Pattinson as she dubbed the actor’s ‘transformation’ for The Batman ‘out of this world’.
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps at Warner Bros for further comment and clarification.
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