Surprising news. Christopher Nolan’s third and likely final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, will shoot primarily in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In other news, I’m moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pittsburgh Film Office made the announcement yesterday that they had sealed the deal with Warner Bros. to shoot the movie there. “We are thrilled to be welcoming the Batman film to Pittsburgh, and eager for the economic impact that our city will experience,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. “This is another example of the growing film industry in our community, and we will be rolling out the red carpet for them.”
“They’re still nailing down actual locations but what they really fell in love with was the diversity of architecture and the gorgeous buildings that we still have in Downtown Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas,” said Dawn Keezer, the director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. She also mentioned the production would likely shoot there for four to six weeks in the downtown and nearby areas. Apparently the decision was four months in the making.
Batman Begins was shot primarily in England and Chicago while the sequel, The Dark Knight, was shot mostly in Chicago with other scenes being shot in the UK and Hong Kong. The setting of Chicago certainly gave a home to Gotham so it’s very curious to see this switch to Pittsburgh being made.
“Pittsburgh is a beautiful city,” said Nolan. “We have been able to find everything we were looking for here, and I am excited to spend the summer in Pittsburgh with our final installment of Batman.”
“We’ve been thrilled with all the work we’ve had in Southwestern Pennsylvania but Batman’s a known franchise. People know what Batman’s about and we’re thrilled that they have chosen Pittsburgh,” said Keezer. She said it’s too early to know how much local cast and crew will be hired but that it will certainly help promote jobs and financial growth for the city.
Another comic book adaptation, Joe Hill’s Locke and Key television pilot, was recently filming in the city as well. The Dark Knight Rises is due in theaters July 2, 2012.
What do you think about the move and how it will affect the look of the film? Anyone from the area?
April 6th, 2011 at 10:01 am
It’s a good choice, though it would have been better before they closed the steel mills. Gotham is an old city, grimy, cramped, always a little behind the times. While there are chunks of NYC that are like that, we aren’t really Gotham most days (though Denny was right that on the coldest night in November at midnight on 14th Street, we are). A place like Pittsburgh, working class and as diverse as Chicago in architecture but not as glitzy, works well for me.
April 6th, 2011 at 10:50 am
I’ve never thought of Pittsburgh as very Gotham-y, but I do feel a sense civic pride that they’re shooting here.
April 6th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Pittsburgh is a fantastic city and I have wondered for years why no one took advantage of filming there. I think it could work really well as Gotham City. I am really proud of my hometown and look forward to seeing it on the big screen.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
I think we’ve got enough soaring, Gothic, (Cathedral of Learning, and Downtown,) and also modern-shiny (PPG Plaza, USX Tower,) and unfortunately, quite a lot of grit and grime, to fit the feel of Gotham City, we also have a lot more variety in natural landscapes. Hills, forest, city green spaces, (I believe Frick is the largest urban park outside of Central Park,) rivers (three,) caves, etc., to work.
Fortunately, pghfilm.org has built a pretty good reputation, and the people are pretty awesome, we love film projects, with the possible exception of the utter banality of Lautner-watch on the local news last summer.
April 9th, 2011 at 2:58 am
http://runion.over-blog.com