JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel
11-07-2007, 06:53 AM
HONG KONG, China (AP) -- Batman may have a body of steel, but the caped crusader is no match for the pollution in Hong Kong's iconic harbor.
The latest installment of the Batman series will start filming in the territory this month, but already the movie has hit several snags. A scene in which Batman was to drop from a plane into the harbor has been axed after the movie's producers found the water quality could pose a potential health risk, the South China Morning post reported in its Sunday edition.
"The plan was for Batman to be seen jumping into the water and then climbing up some bamboo, or something similar," the Post quoted an unnamed production official as saying.
"But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things; salmonella and tuberculosis, so it was canceled. Now the action will cut to inside a building."
The movie -- a sequel to the 2005 hit "Batman Begins" -- stars Christian Bale as the eponymous Batman, Heath Ledger as the Joker and Michael Caine as Batman's long-suffering butler, Alfred.
Christopher Nolan returns to direct the film. Hong Kong's harbor has long been polluted by industrial and residential sewage, and swimming is not recommended, WWF's conservation director Andy Cornish told the Post.
Health worries due to pollution has increasingly become a concern in Hong Kong. According to the think tank Civic Exchange, more than 225,000 vessels arrive annually in Hong Kong's port, one of the world's busiest.
Additionally, rapid urbanization around the region has led to a land-sea breeze system that further traps the pollutants, according to Hong Kong scientists
The latest installment of the Batman series will start filming in the territory this month, but already the movie has hit several snags. A scene in which Batman was to drop from a plane into the harbor has been axed after the movie's producers found the water quality could pose a potential health risk, the South China Morning post reported in its Sunday edition.
"The plan was for Batman to be seen jumping into the water and then climbing up some bamboo, or something similar," the Post quoted an unnamed production official as saying.
"But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things; salmonella and tuberculosis, so it was canceled. Now the action will cut to inside a building."
The movie -- a sequel to the 2005 hit "Batman Begins" -- stars Christian Bale as the eponymous Batman, Heath Ledger as the Joker and Michael Caine as Batman's long-suffering butler, Alfred.
Christopher Nolan returns to direct the film. Hong Kong's harbor has long been polluted by industrial and residential sewage, and swimming is not recommended, WWF's conservation director Andy Cornish told the Post.
Health worries due to pollution has increasingly become a concern in Hong Kong. According to the think tank Civic Exchange, more than 225,000 vessels arrive annually in Hong Kong's port, one of the world's busiest.
Additionally, rapid urbanization around the region has led to a land-sea breeze system that further traps the pollutants, according to Hong Kong scientists