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A model of a hot air balloon emblazoned with the face of the Joker Photo: BATMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics

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Batman Live will have a 100ft-wide, 60ft-deep performance area backed by a giant video wall  Photo: BATMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics

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A maquette of the Flying Graysons circus set from Batman Live Photo: BATMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics

By Peter Lyle 8:00AM GMT 03 Jan 2011

Comment

Hollywood screenwriting guidebooks routinely repeat the idea that to have any chance of getting your blockbuster greenlit, you need to be able to distil it to a one-line ‘elevator pitch’: a short sentence that cites a couple of past box office hits and perhaps an inventive location, by way of encapsulating the essence of your new story.

By that standard, Batman Live might be in trouble. The people behind the arena extravaganza, which will have its world premiere in Manchester in July, are snappier and more forthcoming when saying what it isn’t.

‘It’s not Batman on Ice.’ ‘It’s not Batman the Musical.’ ‘It doesn’t have long, discursive scenes – Batman doesn’t lie back and say: “Isn’t that an interesting cloud?”’ By any other measure, not least the track records of the people involved, it looks like a winner.

Hope it’s better than Spiderman