Robert Pattinson Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Halting Production of Upcoming ‘Batman’

After reports surfaced that someone had come down with COVID-19 on the set of The Batman, Vanity Fair reports that that person in question was the film’s lead star, Robert Pattinson. Pattinson has tested positive for the virus, which has caused filming on the upcoming superhero movie to be halted days after it resumed production at studios outside of London.

“A member of The Batman production has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating in accordance with established protocols. Filming is temporarily paused,” Warner Bros. said in a statement, declining to comment on any individual worker’s health. Sources confirm the person who tested positive was Pattinson. Production on the film had previously shut down in March when the coronavirus pandemic had begun to spread across the globe.

The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves and follows the titular character, played by Pattinson, in his second year as a vigilante. The movie also stars Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone. The film had a planned release of June 2021 but has been moved to October 2021 due to the pandemic delay.

Around 25% of the movie had been filmed before the first shutdown, which was enough to put together a trailer that was shown during DC FanDome last month. “It’s about the early days of him being Batman and he’s very far from being perfect,” Reeves told fans during the event. “One of the things that are interesting is learning how to be Batman. It’s a criminological experiment. He’s trying to figure out what he can do to change this place. He’s seeing he’s not having any of the effects he wants to have.”

“That’s when the murders start to happen… and it opens up a whole new world of corruption,” the director continued. “Without being an origin tale, it ends up touching on his origins. It’s a detective story, a mystery… it’s got, of course, action, and it’s incredibly personal for him. He’s kind of a growing legend and [criminals] are afraid of him. He’s not a symbol of hope yet. One of the things he has to deal with is how he’s perceived… What was exciting for me was not doing the origin [story] but to meet him in the middle and to see him make mistakes and grow and fail and be heroic in a way that felt very human and very flawed.”