Michael Keaton, best known for playing Batman, is set to direct and star in his own noir thriller. It is only the second time Keaton has directed, and the last movie he made – The Merry Gentleman in 2008 – was also a noir thriller. Keaton is currently enjoying critical success for Hulu’s Dopesick, for which he is likely to be Emmy nominated.
Keaton is currently donning various superhero outfits, and is one of the few people with a foot in both the DC and MCU camps. He reprised his role of Adrian Toomes/Vulture in Morbius recently. He is also set to once again become the caped crusader in both The Flash movie and Batgirl, the HBO Max TV series. It’s ironic, considering he was Oscar-nominated for playing an actor who hates playing a superhero in Birdman (2014).
The movie Keaton is set to direct and star in is called Knox Goes Away, according to Deadline. The film follows a contract killer who is diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia.
The hitman is presented with the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son. But to do so he must race against the police closing in on him as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly deteriorating mind.
Keaton’s last film as a director-star was The Merry Gentleman, in which he also played a contract killer, but a remorseful and suicidal one. Kelly Macdonald plays a woman who befriends him, and Bobby Cannavale plays the weary, alcoholic detective who is on his tracks. It looks as though Keaton’s new film will be in a similar wheelhouse.
Another sign that Keaton is a noir thriller fan is that he has played detective Ray Nicolette in both Soderbergh’s Out of Sight and Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.
If you’re a fan of crime films featuring detectives, spies, hitmen and the like – check out our guide to the best thrillers movies.