Former Batman actor Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomas, a has-been movie superhero actor who tries to write, direct and star in a Broadway play in the new film Birdman. Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, 21 Grams) directs the black comedy-drama that carries the full title Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. In the most intriguing trailer we’ve seen in years, Keaton is often seen in his tighty whities whether he’s meditating at home or being chased through Times Square.
The Broadway play that Keaton’s character is producing is an adaptation of Raymond Carver’s ‘What We talk About When We Talk About Love’ – a short story about abusive relationships and emotional loss derived from love, among other things. In the film, everyone around Keaton is skeptical about his second career including his daughter (Emma Stone) and fellow actor (Edward Norton). Birdman premieres at the Venice Internatinal Film Festival in August. Release date is October 17.
