Michael Keaton and Edward Norton engage in some verbal sparring in the latest clips released online from Alejandro González Iñárritu’s black comedy Birdman.
The meta-comedy riffs on former Batman actor Keaton’s hero movie past and is released in the US October 17. The film is due to reach UK cinemas on January 2, 2015.
Appearing to be shot in one continuous take the synopsis for Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) has revealed the film is “a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play”.
During a series of stressed out rehearsals and previews before the opening night “he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself”.
With his career on an upward trajectory following scene-stealing roles in Need for Speed and Robocop, Tim Burton’s caped crusader Keaton is also in talks for a follow-up to his other career-defining role in Burton’s Beetlejuice.
Iñárritu previously directed 21 Grams, Babel and Amores Perros. His latest film also stars Emma Stone (The Amazing Spiderman) as Keaton’s daughter, Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) as his producer, Andrea Riseborough (Brighton Rock) and Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive). Watch the clips from Birdman below.