'Birdman,' with Michael Keaton as a former action star, will open Venice Film Festival
The movie 鈥淏irdman,鈥� starring Michael Keaton as an actor best known for playing a superhero who is now starring in a Broadway play, will reportedly open the Venice Film Festival and close the New York Film Festival.
鈥淏irdman鈥� stars Keaton as actor Riggan Thompson, who signs on to direct and star in a Broadway production of Raymond Carver鈥檚 play 鈥淲hat We Talk About When We Talk About Love鈥� in an attempt to move past his famous role. However, he must also simultaneously contend with a conceited stage actor (Edward Norton) and struggle to get along with his daughter (Emma Stone). The movie also stars 鈥淢uppets Most Wanted鈥� actor Zach Galifianakis as well as Naomi Watts, 鈥淭he Office鈥� actress Amy Ryan, and Andrea Riseborough of the movie 鈥淥blivion.鈥澛�
The director, Alejandro Gonz谩lez I帽谩rritu, was previously behind such films as the 2006 movie 鈥�Babel鈥� and the 2010 film 鈥�Biutiful.鈥�
The movie will be released in the US on Oct. 17, but will open the Venice Film Festival next month, according to . It will close the New York Film Festival in October, according to the .
Keaton, of course, portrayed Batman in the 1989 film of the same name, opposite actor Jack Nicholson as the Joker. He reprised his role in the 1992 sequel 鈥�Batman Returns鈥� with actor Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Stone is also no stranger to superhero movies, having starred in 2012鈥檚 鈥�The Amazing Spider-Man鈥� and 鈥淭he Amazing Spider-Man 2,鈥� which was released this past May. Norton portrayed Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk, in the 2008 movie 鈥�The Incredible Hulk.鈥�
However, Keaton told that audiences shouldn鈥檛 only focus on the superhero aspect of the film. 鈥淚t鈥檚 less聽about a guy who played a superhero in big hit movies than it is about exploring the human soul and psyche, and also where we are as a society today and how much importance we place on those kinds of things,鈥� he said.
