Batman, Superman film courted by Windsor, Ont.

Sandra Pupatello has lit a virtual bat signal.

The former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister and current head of the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation has taken to Twitter calling for the new Batman/Superman movie to be filmed in Windsor-Detroit.

Pupatello directed five tweets at Warner Bros. Entertainment and actor Ben Affleck, the mega-star picked to be the next caped crusader.

• Ben Affleck to play Batman in Man of Steel sequel

"It was just a thought I was having on a Sunday morning," Pupatello told Early Shift host Tony Doucette. "For some parts of the economy, like the entertainment industry, they’re all about the Twittersphere. I thought I’d throw that bug out there and see where it lands."

Pupatello admits her tweets were made "on a whim while having a cup of coffee." But she's serious about the film industry's potential in Windsor-Detroit.

The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit is generally calculated as 35 per cent of the eligible Ontario labour expenditures incurred by a qualifying production company with respect to an eligible Ontario production.

However, productions that are shot in Ontario entirely outside of the Greater Toronto Area can receive a 10 per cent bonus on all Ontario labour expenditures incurred for the production.

"They can do the bulk of filming in Windsor and take advantage of this fantastic tax credit, which is bigger outside of Toronto," Pupatello said. "If you were to come to Windsor, even in the future, you have access to a 45 per cent tax incentive. Not many other places offer that.

"And they still need that kind of old city look that Detroit can provide."

Pupatello said she plans to call the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to formulate an official pitch for the production.

"If you don’t pitch, you’ll never get it," she said.

Filming of the Transformers 4 movie recently wrapped in Detroit. The Motor City was turned into Tokyo and two old Boblo steamships were also used in the production.

Worldwide filming and increased tax breaks outside of California forced Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to declare "a state of emergency" Tuesday on the Today Show.

"We’ve lost the blockbuster films. They don’t film here any more," Garcetti said on the "Today" show. "Tax credits around the world and around the country have taken them away."

Pupatello admits she's no well-known Hollywood name and that neither Affleck or Warner Bros. replied to her tweets. She said that wasn't the end goal anyway.

"I did get retweeted and that was the point. I did ask key people to retweet me," Pupatello said. "People in Warner  Bros. may not have heard of Sandra Pupatello in Windsor, but they may well have heard of Graham Henderson who runs Music Canada."

Henderson was one of a handful of people to retweet and reply to Pupatello.

"Film and music can offer an enormous boost to local economies," Henderson tweeted. "@SandraPupatello @WarnerBrosEnt @BenAffleck Windsor is clever to encourage."