Last November, something big happened for a 5-year-old cancer patient. It started as a kind gesture by Make A Wish Foundation, and turned into a media phenomenon that proved not all of the world was without kindness. Miles Scott, for one day in San Francisco, was able to transcend his illness and become a verifiable superhero: Bat Kid. After cleaning up the streets and putting criminals like The Riddler and The Penguin behind bars, what's a hero to do? What any other hero would do: have their heroic story told for all to see.
Deadline Hollywood broke the trailer for Batkid Begins, a crowdfunded documentary that covers Miles' story from his diagnosis at 18 months to his recent heroic escapade at five years of age. What was supposed to be a simple crowd of 200 people gathered to help make a child's dream a realty became a huge story that attracted the attentions of Adam West, Hans Zimmer, and a throng of 25,000 temporary citizens of San FranGotham – all equally impressed by the feat that a little kindness could do. It was so popular, in fact, that Stephen Amell from Arrow posted this video as an awesome acknowledgment from one hero to another on a job well done.
Crowdsourcing for films seems to be a moderately successful way for filmmakers to not only build an automatic fan base for a project, but to also make sure their funding is locked in, rather than dependent on any sort of studio approval. Knowing that the same mechanism that gave us another navel-gazing indie film from Zach Braff also gave us this inspiring documentary is proof that the system actually does work for truly independent filmmakers.
More importantly, this serves as a fitting end to the story of Batkid. With Batkid Begins documenting the entire story of Miles Scott's rise from illness to remission and crime fighting, it will be – above all else – an awesome keepsake to remind him throughout his later years that for one day, he was the most important hero in San Francisco.
Batkid Begins is planning on a November 15th release date, in honor to celebrate the anniversary of the day that the mini-caped crusader saved the day. There's no word yet on how the film will be distributed, so keep an eye out for more information as it becomes available.
