Why everyone's talking about Michael Keaton's 'Birdman'

Put Michael Keaton in a pair of tighty-whities and cast him as the star of a meta movie directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and you could have the formula for a Keaton comeback.

The 62-year-old actor's career hasn't exactly been a string of hits since he portrayed Batman more than 20 years ago - though, in his defense, he's done well with his voice roles - but after getting a look at the extended international trailer for his October release, "Birdman," suddenly everyone's keeping an eye on Keaton.

That's partly due to the meta nature of the topic: Keaton stars as a washed-up actor most famous for portraying a superhero named Birdman, and tries to re-establish his relevancy with a big Broadway show. As the lengthy - and, yes, pretty weird - trailer indicates, things don't exactly go according to plan.

With that material and Iñárritu ("Babel," "Biutiful") directing, there's already chatter that this could make Keaton's on screen luck turn around.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJfLoE6hanc&w=450&h=315%5D

"Birdman" releases in the States on October 17.