Just months after a little boy with leukemia rose to fame as Batkid, a documentary is being planned about the phenomenon.
Miles Scott, in remission last November after spending half of his five years fighting cancer, quickly captured hearts around the world when he became Batkid for a day and saved Gotham from ruin.
Filmmaker Dana Nachman plans to explore how a little boy generated such huge enthusiasm in a documentary to be titled "Batkid Begins." Nachman launched a crowdfunding page at IndieGoGo July 15 that has already generated donations of more than $35,000 toward its $100,000 goal. The fundraiser ends Aug. 19.
On Nov. 15, the Make-A-Wish Foundation helped parents Nick and Natalie Scott to organize a daylong event during which Miles became Batkid, donning a tiny superhero costume and locking up the Riddler and Penguin to save Gotham (set in San Francisco) from ruin.
Clearly, this kid has heartwarming superpowers. Though only 200 people were expected to support Batkid on the city streets, about 25,000 people showed up. Batkid went viral, too, ultimately reaching more than 2 billion people online.
President Obama praised Miles’ efforts through Vine, telling him in a video, “Way to go, Miles! Way to save Gotham.”
Even the much-maligned current Batman, Ben Affleck, chimed in with a favorable critique of Miles’ performance:
Nachman says she got exclusive access to people at the Make-A-Wish Foundation in San Francisco. She also interviewed Miles’ parents, visiting their farm in the town of Tulelake, California, and talking to them about the years of watching their boy battle leukemia.
"One of his doctors told us that with this disease, they just become like a fighter," Nick Scott told Nachman. "I think he sees the good versus evil battle in superheroes and just relates to it."
Nachman also talks to film composer Hans Zimmer ("The Dark Knight," "12 Years a Slave"), who created a special song for Batkid.