Like so many film productions, The Batman had to stop rolling cameras earlier this year due to the current health crisis. After approximately five and a half months, director Matt Reeves and the cast and crew of the Caped Crusader’s latest movie finally started rolling cameras again earlier this week in the United Kingdom, but now they’ve once again had to press the pause button.
Following someone on The Batman’s production team testing positive for COVID-19, principal photography has been halted after just three days of shooting. However, it sounds like this break won’t be nearly as long as the last one, as the standard precautions are being taken to ensure there’s no further coronavirus spread. Here’s what Warner Bros has to say on the matter (via Deadline):
A member of The Batman production has tested positive for COVID-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols. Filming is temporarily paused.
No specific date was given on when The Batman will start shooting again, but it just goes to show that even with major productions taking extra health and safety precautions in the midst of this pandemic, issues can still pop up. Another example of this is Jurassic World: Dominion, which resumed filming last month and has seen tens of thousands of COVID-19 tests being administered to cast and crew members, among numerous other safeguards. Nevertheless, several weeks back, it was reported that only a second unit crew would continue filming in Malta due to a coronavirus outbreak.
As Matt Reeves revealed last month at DC FanDome, he and his team had only shot approximately 25% of The Batman before having to cease filming in March. Nevertheless, that was enough to stitch together a haunting and brutal trailer shown at the digital event, which gave us our first look at characters like Paul Dano’s Riddler, Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman, Colin Farrell’s Penguin and Jeffrey Wright’s James Gordon. Feel free to re-watch it below:
Last month when it was reported The Batman’s production would pick back up again soon, it was also noted that principal photography could potentially finish by the end of the year. However, now that filming has once more been halted, it’s unclear if that’s still in the cards or if The Batman will have to keep filming in early 2021.
Set during his second year of crimefighting, The Batman follows Bruce Wayne as he explores the corruption that plagues Gotham City and investigates the unusual crimes being committed by The Riddler. Along with the aforementioned actors and Robert Pattinson playing the eponymous protagonist, The Batman also stars Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, among others. Along with directing, Matt Reeves also co-wrote the script with Mattson Tomlin.
The Batman casts its shadow in theaters on October 1, 2021, and in addition to the movie being intended to be the first chapter of a trilogy, there’s also a spinoff series in development for HBO Max that will focus on the Gotham City Police Department during Batman’s first year of existence. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on The Batman’s filming, and browse through our DC movies guide in the meantime.
