Filming of ‘Batman’ stopped after Pattinson suffered from COVID-19

LOS ANGELES, United States – Filming in Britain on the latest Batman movie was halted after its star, Robert Pattinson, reportedly tested positive, just days after filming resumed.

“A member of the production of ‘The Batman’ has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating according to established protocols,” Warner Bros. said in a statement to AFP.

“Filming is temporarily paused.”

The study did not name the infected person or indicate when filming would resume.

However, several Hollywood trade publications, including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, said they had confirmed that Pattinson, 34, was the ill cast member.

Pattinson’s representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

Production on the new film, a dark and mysterious detective-style take on “Caped Crusader,” also had to shut down mid-production in March due to the pandemic.

Director Matt Reeves has said that his version, due out next June, is inspired by classic film noir such as “Chinatown” and “Taxi Driver,” and will meet a “very human and flawed” Bruce Wayne in his second. year as Batman. trying to solve a series of crimes.

– Strict safety rules –

The first footage of the highly publicized film released at the DC FanDome event last month left fans drooling, with a mysterious villain leaving notes for Batman at crime scenes in Gotham, and the movie’s hero beating up a street thug earlier. to growl: revenge. “

The production halt comes as Hollywood rushes back to work after the pandemic halted all movie and television recording in March.

Several major Hollywood blockbusters have resumed filming in the past two months, some of them in Britain, easing coronavirus travel rules to allow actors and crew to fly to work.

Among the high-profile films that have received the green light to resume production are “Jurassic World: Dominion,” starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, and “Mission: Impossible 7,” starring Tom Cruise.

Movie productions in Los Angeles have recently resumed with studios imposing strict safety rules on actors and crew members.

Pattinson, who rose to fame in the teen romance drama “Twilight,” is the latest of several high-profile actors to have contracted the virus.

On Wednesday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed that his entire family had tested positive for coronavirus but had all made a full recovery.

Johnson, the world’s highest-earning actor, said he, his wife, and two young daughters had acquired Covid-19 from close family friends and urged his 196 million Instagram followers to wear masks and avoid “politicizing.” the pandemic.

“This has been one of the most challenging and difficult things that we have had to endure as a family,” Johnson said.

“I wish it was only me who tested positive. But it wasn’t, it was my whole family, so this was a real kick in the stomach, “she added.

The “Jumanji” actor’s young children, Jasmine and Tiana Gia, had few symptoms, but Johnson and his wife Lauren “had a hard time,” he said.

Other celebrities who have fallen ill with coronavirus include actors Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko and British actor Idris Elba.