David Ayer Begins Filming on 'Suicide Squad'

Director David Ayer today announced via his Twitter page that principal photography is now officially underway on Warner Bros. ensemble cast super-villain team movie Suicide Squad. He tweeted a snapshot of his slate, with the caption, "Day one."

The multi-million dollar budget DCU villain team-up movie features an all-star cast headlined by Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as The Joker, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Scott Eastwood as Steve Trevor, Jim Parrack as Deathstroke, along with Adam Beach, Karen Fukuhara and Ike Barinholtz in still undisclosed roles. Last week, Ayers also posted on his Twitter page the first group photo of the Suicide Squad cast following a table read session.

Suicide Squad will be the third installment of the DC Comics shared universe film, following 2013's  Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which will hit theaters on March 25, 2016. Suicide Squad is scheduled to begin shooting in Toronto from today to September and is due for release August 5, 2016.

According to the studio's schedule, Suicide Squad will be followed by Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot in 2017, Justice League Part One directed by Zack Snyder also in 2017, The Flash starring Ezra Miller and Aquaman starring Jason Momoa both in 2018, Shazam and Justice League Part Two both in 2019, and Cyborg and Green Lantern both in 2020.

The Suicide Squad film is based on the DC Comics series about an antihero team of incarcerated super-villains who serve as deniable assets for the government as they undertake high-risk black-ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences and other favors. In the comic book, they operates out of Belle Reve Penitentiary under the direct supervision of Dr. Amanda Waller. The existence of a Suicide Squad in the DC Comics mythology helps explain why many convicted villains in the comic books are found freely roaming around without having heroes tracking them down-until they attempt or commit another crime.