”Made in China” Ping.
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Posted on 11/04/2007 4:49:58 AM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(HONG KONG) — Batman might cut a superhuman figure as he fights off evil-doers to save the world, but Hong Kong's polluted harbour is, apparently, one death-defying stunt too far.
Producers shooting the next Batman movie have been forced to cut one scene involving the caped crusader -- played by Christian Bale -- jumping out of a plane into the city's famed Victoria Harbour.
According to the South China Morning Post, producers felt the poor water quality was just too dangerous for the action hero when shooting for part of the film takes place here in the coming week.
Citing two unidentified production sources, it said the stunt had now been taken off the shooting list for "The Dark Knight," the sequel to the 2005 hit "Batman Begins" and the latest in the blockbuster franchise.
"There was supposed to be a scene where Batman jumps out of the back of a Hercules C-130 and into Victoria Harbour," one source was quoted as saying.
"The plan was for Batman to be seen jumping into the water and then climbing up some bamboo, or something similar, onto a pier.
"But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things, salmonella and tuberculosis, so it was cancelled. Now the action will cut to inside a building," the source added.
A spokeswoman for October Pictures, the Hong Kong production company which is managing the shoot, would not comment on the report.
A spokeswoman for Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department admitted that harbour water was not suitable for swimming due to untreated sewage, the newspaper said.
As well as poor water, Hong Kong also suffers from air pollution that on many days leaves the city clouded in haze, partly caused by local power plants and emissions from factories in the neighbouring Pearl River Delta region in southern China.
I guess they won’t be filming the Captain Planet movie in Hong Kong either.
Sounds like a job for “Captain AlGore”!
Will Batman be fighting the Chicoms?
Batman meets the arch villain Dia Rhea! I suppose he forgot to pack his Bat Immodium AD in his utility belt. I always wondered why Bruce Wayne never expressed a desire to visit Acupulco.
He's already got his hand full...
And this is just a random gif I found at "Tinypic"...lol!
LOL!
Bat-ping.
I recently *heard* that the pollution problem “isn’t as bad as first thought,” but the reports are conflicting.
However, the Hong Kong shoot has been a disaster from the get-go. The city overall seems very unwelcoming to the film crew. A few nights ago, the crew asked that some of the Hong Kong buildings keep their lights on for a little longer than usual so they could get some “breathtaking” shots of the city skyline...and the buildings refused to comply.
You’re welcome!
There’s actually been a flurry of Dark Knight news lately. Firstly, there’s a new picture of Ledger as the Joker (and an audio of his voice) on whysoserious.com.
Also today, Jack Nicholson revealed in an interview with MTV.com that he was “furious” about this new Batman movie and a new actor playing the Joker.
http://www.batman-on-film.com/TDK_nicholson-on-thejoker-TDK_MTV_11-5-07.html
I dunno, apparently he thinks they needed his permission. He also seems kind of ill-informed on the subject...and a tad egotistical, I might add.
Let me get this right — Nickolson was paid $15 million to play the Joker in Burton’s movie, and then wanted to be killed off so he couldn’t come back. Now he’s fussing because, 20 years later, someone is making another Joker/Batman movie?
Who’s next, Cesar Romero? Mark Hamill (who really should play the live-action Joker)?
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