Credit: Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images

Production has stalled out not too long after the movie’s public reveal.

Just last week, during the DC FanDome event, fans were treated to the first official trailer of The Batman, a new film starring the classic DC Comics superhero. As the film is independent from the established DC Cinematic Universe (Justice League, Wonder Woman, Superman VS Batman, etc.), it will feature a new face in the protagonist’s role, namely Robert Pattinson. Production on the film was originally supposed to begin in March, but plans were scuttled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production was set to resume earlier this week, but after only a few days, a new problem has caused another stall-out.


Warner Bros. released a statement yesterday that filming had been forced to stop again due to a member of staff testing positive for COVID-19, though they did not specify who it was at the time. According to a report from Vanity Fair, the staff member in question is, in fact, the star, Robert Pattinson, according to an undisclosed source that Vanity Fair claims is familiar with the matter. The infected individual is currently isolating themselves according to standard COVID-19 advisories.

Credit: Warner Bros.

Whether the infected individual is Pattinson or not, production has once again been forced to stop for an indeterminate period. Coincidentally, this announcement comes days after it was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is slated to star in DC’s upcoming Black Adam film, announced that both he and his immediate family had tested positive for COVID-19. They had contracted the disease from friends who had visited their home for dinner. Johnson and his family had already recovered from the disease when he made his announcement, but they had all been sickened for several weeks, with he and his wife having an especially difficult time.

“We are counting our blessings right now because we are well aware that it isn’t always the case you get on the other end of COVID-19 stronger and healthier,” he said.