If you’re looking to watch the R-rated cut ofBirds of Prey, you may want to go for the Blu-ray, as it’s not streaming on HBO Max. As it stands now, the Margot Robbie-led movie is in fact on HBO Max, but many fans who went to watch the movie noticed that it’s a censored version, making the cut much more TV-friendly. This seems odd as this is for HBO Max, which includes other R-rated content, and no official reason has been given for the censorship.
When going to startBirds of Prey, a graphic is displayed on the screen noting that the movie “has been modified as follows from its original version,” announcing right away it’s beenedited for content. Everything in the movie that contributed to its R rating has been removed, including dubbing over or removing the various curse words. Mature visual gags have also been censored, including Renee Montoya’s “I shaved my [testicles]” shirt and Harley Quinn flashing her middle fingers.
The movie description forBirds of Preyon HBO Max purports it to be the R-rated version, so it’s also possible this could all just be an error that hasn’t yet been addressed. CBR reports that this cut is the same as a version that’s been airing this month on TNT that’s been rated TV-14. It’s possible that this same version is also the one streaming onHBO Maxdue to a legal complication or a simple human error. Maybe someone in the company set the wrong cut to stream?
It’s not impossible for HBO Max to have intentionally chosen this TV-14 cut ofBirds of Preyto stream on the service. When the classic horror flickThe Evil Deadwas recently added,many fans noticed a more subtle changeas a demon’s arm strangling a woman on the poster artwork had been removed entirely, leaving it looking like nothing was grabbing her. There are also reports of fans finding edited cuts of other R-rated movies likeSpawnandSaw VI.
Released in theaters last year before the pandemic changed things completely,Birds of Preywas directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson. It serves as a spinoff toSuicide Squadby bringing back Margot Robbie to reprise her role as Harley Quinn as part of an ensemble that also included Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor. Unfortunately, it underperformed at the box office, and it could be speculated that the R rating it had did not help its theatrical success.
Even with disappointing returns, theBirds of Preystory will be expanded in aplanned spinoff following Jurnee Smollett as Black Canary. This project is reportedly in development for HBO Max, and perhaps WarnerMedia wanted to test the waters with a censored cut ofBirds of Preyfor a better idea on which rating they should shoot for with theBlack Canarymovie. In any case, just know you’re going to be watching the edited-for-television version if you choose to streamBirds of Preyon HBO Max.
