A little less than two weeks ago, the teaser trailer for Matt Reeves’s much-anticipated film The Batman dropped, letting fans into the gritty new world of Robert Pattinson as the titular Caped Crusader. Production shut down in March, when the coronavirus pandemic lockdown measures were first implemented, and the film’s release date was pushed back from July to October 2021. But this past week, production had resumed in studios outside London, eliciting excitement from fans.
Now, though, production has reportedly been halted once again. Via Variety, Warner Bros. offered a brief explanation as to why: “A member of The Batman production has tested positive for Covid-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols. Filming is temporarily paused.”
On Thursday (September 3), Variety also reported that the crew member is none other than Pattinson himself.
Though his representative did not immediately get back to Variety about a comment, the publication reports that “a highly placed source” confirmed Pattinson to be the affected crew member. The news comes as conversations linger around resuming production for film and television work amid the ongoing global health crisis, with questions of safety being top of mind. Major sports leagues, including the NBA and NHL, have resumed their 2019-2020 seasons by keeping their players secluded and quarantined in what’s been called “bubbles,” so far with success. MLB players, however, have not been as lucky.
In May, Pattinson appeared on the cover of GQ for a wide-ranging yet enigmatic interview conducted over video chat, where he shared his latest dietary routines and his thoughts on why he chose to don the cowl of one of the most famous comic-book heroes on the planet.
“You’ve seen this sort of lighter version, you’ve seen a kind of jaded version, a kind of more animalistic version. And the puzzle of it becomes quite satisfying, to think: Where’s my opening? And also, do I have anything inside me which would work if I could do it?” he said. “And then also, it’s a legacy part, right? I like that. There’s so few things in life where people passionately care about it before it’s even happened. You can almost feel that pushback of anticipation, and so it kind of energizes you a little bit. It’s different from when you’re doing a part and there’s a possibility that no one will even see it. Right? In some ways it’s, I don’t know… It makes you a little kind of spicy.”
Pattinson also stars alongside fellow onscreen superhero Tom Holland in Netflix’s new film The Devil All the Time, set to hit the streaming giant on September 16, and stars in Christopher Nolan’s initially long-delayed blockbuster Tenet, which finally hits select theaters in the United States today. (A bemasked Tom Cruise saw it in Europe. He loved it.)
This is a developing story. We’ll update as more information becomes available.
