Gotham city at the Three Rivers

Pittsburgh to play Gotham city in next Batman film. [Link]

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.