Gina Prince-Bythewood is ''really excited'' about 'The Old Guard's upcoming release.

The 50-year-old director is pleased that the Netflix film will get plenty of attention in the coming months, as other superhero movies have been forced to delay their release because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Gina - whose film is set to launch in July - told Total Film magazine: ''It's a bit of a strange feeling that suddenly we're the only action film - the only tentpole - opening.

''I know how it must feel for the other filmmakers, to have to move is tough. But I'm also really excited about the fact that our film is on Netflix, so we get this opportunity to share it.''

By contrast, Gina previously admitted that she struggled to get her 2000 romantic-drama movie 'Love & Basketball' off the ground.

The director also revealed that studios were initially reluctant to support her 2014 drama 'Beyond the Lights'.

Speaking about her past struggles with movie studios, she shared: ''With 'Love and Basketball', everybody turned it down. It was very tough.

''And then with this film I was just coming off the success of 'The Secret Life of Bees'. I felt like I had written a contemporary love story and a music film that was touching on contemporary themes. I thought it would be an easy sell.

''I was shocked when everybody turned it down. I know the truth of it is that there were two issues: one was the suicide in it and studios feeling like that made it feel small and that audiences couldn't come back from that.

''And the other is that there's two people of colour at the helm and studios feeling that that's harder to market and makes it a smaller film.''