Batman sequel set to turn Glasgow into Gotham City again

The sequel to comic book blockbuster The Batman is to film in Glasgow next month, with the city once again doubling up for Gotham City.

BBC Scotland News understands the film, which will star Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, will mostly be filming around the Kingston Bridge on North Street and Newton Street.

Several other films and TV programmes will also be shooting in Glasgow throughout August, with some streets having restrictions in place for almost the entire month.

That means pedestrian movements will be prohibited on affected streets, and all vehicle movements will be restricted, with the exception of emergency vehicles.

In total, more than 20 city streets face disruption during August and September, although not all the closures are for The Batman: Part II.

It will be the latest film to use Glasgow as a base, with scores of other productions having used the city as a location in recent years.

These have included the big budget likes of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Running Man and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which arrived in cinemas this week.

The Batman, released in 2022 and directed by Matt Reeves, used the city's Necropolis for a short but pivotal scene at the very end of the movie, with the hero riding a motorbike.

Whether any of the sequel's stars - including Scarlett Johansson, Colin Farrell and Sebastian Stan - will be on set this time is unknown.

Filming began earlier this year in Liverpool, which was also used in the first film, with yellow taxi cabs and damaged police cars spotted across the city.

Hollywood has increasingly turned to Scotland - and especially Glasgow - as a location.

Ray Tallan, the head of film at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, previously told BBC Scotland News architecture in Glasgow and Edinburgh "lends itself beautifully" to the big screen.

That has helped Glasgow stand in for Gotham City - typically portrayed as grim, crime-ridden and Gothic - on more than one occasion, although infamously one production shot in the city has never seen the light of day.

Batgirl was filmed entirely in Glasgow at the end of 2021 and throughout the early months of 2022, only to be scrapped by bosses at Warner Bros Discovery without ever being released.

More successfully, Glasgow also doubled as Gotham in another superhero film, The Flash, as well as The Batman.

However, it was a Marvel Comic hero who stole the spotlight last year with scenes from Spider-Man: Brand New Day shot in the city and Glasgow this time acting as New York City.

Star Tom Holland chatted to fans while on set for the shoot, and crowds regularly gathered to watch sequences with the web-slinging hero in action.

Not everyone has been impressed though - a review published by The Times this week said the locations would not fool anyone, and no CGI could "transform Merchant City, George Square and Trongate into Manhattan".

Filming in the city has sometimes brought complaints from local businesses, who find themselves facing disruption and even having to close during filming.

However, Glasgow City Council says the city benefits from big productions, as it means more people are visiting the city and therefore eating, drinking and shopping in Glasgow.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "The range of architecture in the city – particularly our heritage buildings and the city centre's grid system – is of particular interest to productions looking to recreate the streets of (sometimes real, sometimes fictional) American cities.

"While it is undoubtedly exciting to welcome major productions and see the likes of Spider-Man swinging along Bothwell Street, the bread and butter of filming in Glasgow is for UK broadcast productions, and these have helped to grow a thriving film sector in the city, providing jobs for local people in a variety of roles."