Julia Roberts to star in Batkid movie

Julia Roberts will star in a movie based on the real-life story of six-year-old cancer survivor Miles Scott, AKA Batkid, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Roberts is also producing the drama, billed as a remake of Dana Nachman’s documentary, Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World, which debuted this weekend at the 2015 Slamdance film festival. The film-maker, who is executive producing the remake, said:

It’s thrilling to me that Ms Roberts and her team watched our film and were so moved by it that they want to dedicate their time and creative capital to make sure the widest audience possible will know and love Miles’ story and the spirit of this intimate special event that went global, as much as we do.

Scott made headlines in November 2013 when he took part in one of the largest and most elaborate projects staged by the Make-a-Wish foundation, saving the city of San Francisco as “Batkid”. More than 20,000 people lined the streets to watch as the young boy, in full costume, rescued a damsel in distress, stopped the Riddler from carrying out a bank robbery and chased down the Penguin with help from his full-sized equivalent.

Scott, who is from Tulelake in rural northern California, is in remission from life-threatening lymphoblastic leukaemia, with which he was diagnosed at 18 months. It is not clear which role Roberts will take in the remake, though the part of Scott’s mother, Natalie, would appear to be an obvious choice.