4.11.14 Update: The movie has now been dated for an October 17, 2014 release date per Fox Searchlight. Look for a Cannes announcement next week. At least that’s our best bet. Here’s our 2014 Cannes predictions. Amy Ryan evidently was in the cast as well.
Previous 06.03.13 story with updated synopsis and final writing credits: The wacky, theater-based, somewhat-meta comedy is tough trick to pull off, but we’ll be damned if Alejandro González Iñárritu isn’t pulling together a helluva cast together to try and make his upcoming “Birdman” work. Before we even get to that, we’re just excited to see Iñárritu shift gears completely and move away from his trademark heavy drama into what could possibly be his own “I Heart Huckabees.” Or something. Either way, the possibilities for this being awesome are certainly up there, and we have our fingers crossed and undoubtedly, these set photos have stoked our excitement a little bit more.
The official synopsis: BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.
The big question is, why is Michael Keaton walking around with a superhero-type dude behind him? He plays an actor who once played an iconic superhero, who mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glories, but his efforts to return to the spotlight are threatened by the egotistical leading actor of the play, with whom he butts heads. Just who are some of the awesome aforementioned players involved? Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton and Andrea Riseborough. Pretty good, right? And these pics below—of Keaton being stalked/followed by the actor taking over his superhero role?—are pretty amusing. The movie has four, count ’em, writing credits too, including Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo.
Shooting is underway and Fox Searchlight already has the rights, so we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for this one next year. Update: Set Photos removed by request of the studio. [Comic Book Movie]
