While production is winding down on the second DC Comics adaption in Warner Bros.’ new interconnected universe of superhero movies, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the studio is gearing up to get the cameras rolling on the next pic after BvS, Fury director David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.  The story revolves around a team of supervillains who work for the U.S. government, undertaking dangerous black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.  It’s actually a pretty logical decision to place Suicide Squad so early in the DC Movie lineup, as audiences will get to know a number of the big villains before they face off against the heroes in later films.

Warner Bros. has been putting together an incredibly impressive cast that includes Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Jared Leto, and possibly Will Smith, and now we have firm details on when and where the Suicide Squad movie will start production.  More after the jump.

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Image via Sony Pictures

Per THR, Warner Bros. has booked Pinewood Toronto Studios in Toronto, Canada for the production of Suicide Squad.  The film is going by the working title of Bravo 14 and will begin pre-production in February in anticipation of rolling cameras from mid-April to September “in and around Toronto.”  This keeps the DC picture physically quite far away from Marvel Studios’ output, as the latter has been basing its productions in London and Atlanta while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been shooting mainly in the Detroit area.

THR adds that Courtney, Hardy, Robbie, and Leto are all in the final stages of negotiations for roles, though there’s no mention of Smith, who was being courted for a character that may or may not be Captain Boomerang.  As we previously told you, Robbie will be playing Harley Quinn, while Leto is in line to breathe new life into The Joker and Courtney is negotiating to play Deadshot, the leader of the group.  Jesse Eisenberg is also in talks to reprise his role of Lex Luthor in the pic, which would act as a sequel of sorts to BvS.

I thought Ayer did a swell job with the visceral and bold Fury, so I’m very curious to see what he brings to the superhero genre with Suicide Squad.  The film is slated for release on August 5, 2016, following the release of Batman v Superman the previous March and preceding Wonder Woman, which is slated for 2017 and now has Michelle McLaren set to direct.

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