It’s been just three days since The Batman production restarted in the United Kingdom at the Warner Bros. studio in Leavesden. But the movie directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson is temporarily suspending principal photography after one of the crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
Deadline has news on The Batman production being halted across the pond. Warner Bros. confirmed in a statement: “A member of The Batman production has tested positive for COVID-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols. Filming is temporarily paused.”
That’s not the best way to get back to work, but this may just be part of the new normal as studios try to get production on some of their biggest movies back underway in international territories where the coronavirus pandemic has been handled better than it has in the United States. There is constant testing being done every week along with the enhanced safety protocols in place to keep the cast and crew of film and television productions safe, but there are bound to be a handful of COVID-19 cases that come about with all these people getting back together to work.
Before production was shut down around the world, The Batman had completed roughly a quarter of its production schedule, so they still have a lot of work to do. This isn’t the best way to kick off the return of production on the DC Comics movie, and we’re not sure how long they will be stopping production to deal with the issue. Presumably several other crew members will also need to quarantine if they were in close contact with the crew member who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Batman isn’t the only major movie back in production to haves woes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jurassic World: Dominion recently had to scale back what they intended to shoot in Malta after four crew members who were already on site before shooting began tested positive for COVID-19. The production will now only have a second unit shoot on the island through the rest of September and the cast will not be flying there to shoot any scenes.
Just recently, the first trailer for The Batman debuted at DC FanDome, and we learned some new details about the influences and inspiration that director Matt Reeves is taking from DC Comics. You can find out more about that in our full recap of the panel over here. In the meantime, check out our detailed breakdown of things you might have missed in the trailer, and stay tuned to see how The Batman production recovers from this setback
The Batman is currently scheduled to open in theaters on October 1, 2021.
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