WIRE Buzz: The Batman returns to Chicago; Century Goddess; Smilla’s Sense of Snow

Sorry, London. Christopher Nolan was right: Chicago is Gotham. Now Matt Reeves' The Batman is following (bat)suit from the Dark Knight trilogy and heading to the Windy City to film.

This news comes from the Chicago Tribune, which confirmed that the movie about Bruce Wayne's early days fighting crime as Batman would be leaving the U.K. (where the movie was filming, though it faced hiccups like star Robert Pattinson's COVID-19 diagnosis) to shoot in the city's downtown next month. While it's still unclear if Pattinson's Batman or any of the other members of the star-studded cast will be crossing the pond, the exteriors of Chicago's landscape will still help make up the buildings of Gotham — just like it did in every Batman from Batman Begins to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

ScreenMag reports that the shoot will take place from October 16-18, then October 24-25, and involve plenty of action sequences. The film also stars Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Paul Dano as Riddler, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon.

The Batman is set to hit theaters on Oct. 1, 2021.

Next, a new animation company from Pixar and Dreamworks veteran producer Brad Lewis (Ratatouille) has announced its first feature film project.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spire Animation Studios will make its debut with animated musical Century Goddess. The movie, about a young woman (secretly a goddess that shows up every hundred years) using song to overthrow a dictatorship, comes based on an idea Lewis and his daughter had.

The creative team behind the project includes stage director Diane Paulus, songwriter Starrah (providing original songs), and screenwriter/producer Bisha K. Ali. “The way [Starrah] expresses what she feels through music, she’s as good as it gets,” Lewis said. He also notes that he "sought out Diane," who he "always aspired to work with." "When we spoke, [Ali] had the story in her heart and soul. She brings a depth to it that you dream about as a creative."

Century Goddess does not yet have a production timeline set.

Finally, one of The Handmaid’s Tale's directors is tackling a new series.

Variety reports that Peter Höeg's 1992 book Smilla’s Sense of Snow is getting the series treatment courtesy of Constantin Film, writer/creator Clive Bradley and director Amma Asante.

The story follows Smilla Jaspersen as she investigates the death of an immigrant Inuit child...only to find far more questions than answers, eventually returning to Greenland over the course of the supernatural tale. The novel was previously adapted into a film back in 1997 by helmer Bille August.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be helming a show with such a powerful female lead at its center. Peter Höeg’s 1993 novel gave us a potent social commentary, with a heroine ahead of her time, that illuminated themes more relevant today than ever," Asante said. "It was a compelling alchemy for me, and a wonderful jumping-off point for our update into a modern supernatural thriller that asks poignant questions for our times.”

Smilla’s Sense of Snow does not yet have a timeline or distributor.