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Will the ‘Burgh rise in new Batman flick?

Eric Heyl
By Eric Heyl
2 Min Read April 8, 2011 | 15 years Ago
| Friday, April 8, 2011 12:00 a.m.

Perez Heyl’s Hollywood Insider:

Batman in the ‘Burgh• Believe it?

The new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” will be shot in Pittsburgh this summer. It’s the biggest blockbuster to be filmed here since Anthony Hopkins, as the evil Hannibal Lecter , rewrote the Betty Crocker cookbook in 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs.”

The plot is a closely-guarded secret. But our spies tell us this will be a fish-out-of-water offering, or more appropriately, a bat-out-of-belfry one, chronicling Batman’s awkward adjustment to life in the Steel City.

“It’s going to be kind of like Dorothy realizing she isn’t in Kansas anymore — if Dorothy had been attired in an imposing, identity obscuring black bodysuit with cape, cowl, gloves and boots,” said a source close to writer-director Christopher Nolan.

The previous Batman movie, 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” ended with the Caped Crusader on the run in Gotham City after being wrongly suspected of murder. Our snitches tell us that “The Dark Knight Rises,” begins with Batman attempting to start a new life in Pittsburgh.

“He wants to continue to fight crime, but runs into difficulties,” the source said. “The first time Pittsburgh police use the Bat Signal to contact him, they’re sued by Scenic Pittsburgh, a group opposed to electronic billboards and other forms of urban light pollution.”

Batman is stymied in his attempt to find a new Batcave location, as all the suitable underground space has been leased to Marcellus Shale drilling interests.

The source said the movie won’t skimp on action scenes, and will have a thrilling car chase guaranteed to have the audience on the edge of its seat.

“The stuntmen already are talking about driving at speeds never attempted before in the Squirrel Hill Tunnel,” he said. “They’re talking 40 mph, easy.”

Batman’s nemesis in the movie will be a power-hungry local who will stop at nothing until he completely controls the city for his nefarious purposes. Complicating the Caped Crusader’s efforts to confront the villain is the rogue’s ability to make himself invisible for prolonged periods.

“If you thought the Joker and the Penguin were formidable Batman foes,” the source said, “just wait ’til you see the Mayor .”


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