'Birds of Prey' director Cathy Yan had to fight to keep an ''uncomfortable'' scene in the movie.

The filmmaker - who was the helm for Margot Robbie's comic book blockbuster - admitted some people wanted to cut a club scene in which Ewan McGregor's sinister Roman Sionis humiliates a woman called Erika.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Yan said: ''I'll be honest: We had to fight to keep that scene because it was uncomfortable. It was risky, and we had to fight to keep it at all.

''There are cuts of the movie without it. I'm really glad that we kept it because I think it's important. I think that a lot of people have been very impacted by that scene.

''I think it's a huge turning point for Roman; it's a huge turning point for Canary, and the way that we shot it was hopefully not about the sexual violence upon the woman.''

Rather than being about the violence, Yan insisted the focus was more on Roman - and his alter ego Black Mask - as Jurnee Smollett-Bell's character sees his true colours.

She added: ''It was more about Roman, what he's capable of and Canary seeing him for who he really is for the first time.

''Now, she can fully cut herself off from him, and I thought it was a really important scene. So, we fought for it.''

Meanwhile, Yan also admitted she was ''disappointed'' by the low box office opening for the movie, and what it implied.

She said: ''I know that the studio had really high expectations for the movie -- as we all did.

''There were also undue expectations on a female-led movie, and what I was most disappointed in was this idea that perhaps it proved that we weren't ready for this yet.''