Robert Pattinson Tests Positive for COVID-19 Causing Studio To Shut Down ‘The Batman’ Production

By Rebecca Rubin, Variety
Published Sep. 5, 2020, 2:20 p.m. ET

Robert Pattinson has tested positive for coronavirus, according to Vanity Fair, prompting The Batman to suspend filming in the United Kingdom.

Warner Bros. confirmed earlier on Thursday that production was being put on hold after a crew member tested positive but did not confirm the person’s identity.

“A member of ‘The Batman’ production has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating in accordance with established protocols,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement. “Filming is temporarily paused.”

The studio did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether or not Pattinson had contracted the virus, nor did a representative for the actor.

News of the shutdown comes days after the gritty comic book adventure went back into production following months-long filming delays. The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, was about seven weeks into filming when they had to turn off cameras due to the pandemic. The movie has approximately three months of material left to shoot and hopes to be done filming by the end of the year.

Numerous productions were put on pause when the virus began to intensify last spring, and very few blockbusters have resumed filming amid the global health crisis. Jurassic World: Dominion was the first major movie to restart and has been back to work at Pinewood Studios in the U.K. since July. Universal Pictures, the studio releasing the latest Jurassic sequel, has taken expensive and extensive measures to ensure the set will remain coronavirus-free. Those safety procedures involve everything from routine temperature checks to renting out a hotel for the cast and crew for 20 weeks.

Since production for The Batman was put on hold, Warner Bros. pushed back its theatrical release and now plans to unveil the movie on the big screen on Oct. 1, 2021.

Matt Reeves directed The Batman, which also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon. John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell round out the cast.

Reeves, in a recent panel during DC FanDome, revealed that The Batman takes place during Year Two of the Dark Knight’s emergence — before his enemies have become full-fledged supervillains.