National Museums Liverpool and specifically The Walker Art Gallery plays a new role in The Batman history.
National Museums Liverpool (NML) has played a role in the newly launched The Batman film – providing a backdrop for the filming and also hosting a backstage film crew hub in Liverpool.
Warner Bros’ The Batman, released in cinemas last Friday (4 March 2022), was shot in Liverpool during October 2020 and was the world’s first largescale production in an urban area to shoot under the new Covid-19 industry guidelines.
Stars including Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell and John Turturro were among the cast filming in the city for one week, as Liverpool was plunged into the page of a DC comic book and the city’s iconic landmarks were immortalised in some of the movie’s key sequences.
NML’s striking Walker Art Gallery was used as one of the filming locations that transformed Liverpool into Gotham City. The official still from the film shows Robert Pattinson, as Bruce Wayne, in front of St George’s Hall with Walker Art Gallery in the background.
The Walker Art Gallery, which was built in the 1800s and is the national gallery of the North, can be spotted in scenes in the new movie.
Meanwhile, NML’s World Museum was used as the backstage hub – with members of National Museums Liverpool’s events team going into Covid isolation with the film’s crew for the duration of the filming.
Liverpool is the most filmed UK city outside of London and National Museums Liverpool works with the Liverpool Film Office on many productions coming to the city.
Karen O’Connor, Director of Commercial Enterprises at National Museums Liverpool, which looks after some of the most visited museums in England outside of London, said: “The Batman gave our venues and our events team the opportunity to play a part in comic book history – and brought a commercial income boost during the challenges of the pandemic.
“We can feel The Batman fever here in the city since the film launched last week – and there have been many keen to spot the real-life filming locations.”
Gareth Nuttall, Hosted By National Museums Liverpool’s events sales manager, was one of the team who became part of the Covid-secure crew bubble. He said: “We isolated in the crew hotel for the duration of filming – and supported the operations of the covid-secure hair, makeup and costume facility. It was an intense, but amazing experience.
“Our venues have become backdrops for a number of major productions – from Doctor Who to Peaky Blinders, and now The Batman. It has been brilliant to see the transformation of the Walker Art Gallery in Gotham City.”
NML’s venues have starred in several recent filming projects, including Doctor Who, Peaky Blinders, Silent Witness, Funny Girl, Tin Star, Anthony, The Irregulars and the Almond and the Seahorse, along with a schedule of regular broadcast and advertising bookings. It has a line-up of filming scheduled for 2022, which its venues and events teams are now preparing for.
NML runs seven museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool. It relies on funding, as well as membership, donations and commercial income from venue hire, events, filming, catering and retail, to keep its attractions and the work it does in the community running.
