Batman may be able to save Gotham City from all types of evil, but it seems he's no match for Hong Kong's polluted waterways.
The caped crusader was scripted to jump from a plane into Victoria Harbour as part of a stunt for the filming of the latest movie, The Dark Knight, part of which is being shot in Hong Kong this week.
But two sources involved in the production of the blockbuster claim the Hollywood production company found the water quality was so bad it decided it could not possibly complete the stunt without risking the health of a cast member.
The sources would only speak anonymously because of commercial sensitivities and the high profile of the film, which stars Christian Bale as Batman, Heath Ledger as the Joker and Michael Caine as the butler Alfred and is a sequel to the 2005 movie Batman Begins.
'We have a scene on the roof of the Peninsula hotel with a helicopter flying into the helipad, which is supposed to be IFC2,' one of the sources said last week.
'Then there was supposed to be another scene where Batman jumps out of the back of a Hercules C130 and into Victoria Harbour. The plan was for Batman to be seen jumping into the water and then climbing up some bamboo, or something similar, onto a pier.
'But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things, salmonella and tuberculosis, so it was cancelled. Now the action will cut to inside a building.'
