“The Batman” Movie Halted After Robert Pattinson Test Positive For COVID-19 During Filming

Filming in Britain for the latest Batman movie has been halted after its star Robert Pattinson reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after shooting had resumed.

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

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

However a number of Hollywood trade publications, such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, said they had confirmed that 34-year-old Pattinson was the sick cast member.

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

Production for the new film which portrays a dark, detective-style mystery take on the “Caped Crusader” also had to shut down midway through production in March due to the pandemic.

Director Matt Reeves has said his version of ‘The Batman’ due out next June (2021), is inspired by classic film noir such as “Chinatown” and “Taxi Driver,” and will meet a “very human and very flawed” Bruce Wayne in his second year as Batman, trying to solve a series of crimes.

The first footage from the much-hyped movie released at the DC FanDome event last month left fans drooling, with a mysterious villain leaving notes for Batman at crime scenes across Gotham and the film’s hero pummeling a street thug before growling: “I’m vengeance.”

The stop in production comes as Hollywood scrambles to get back to work after the pandemic brought a halt to all film and TV shoots in March.

Several major Hollywood blockbusters resumed filming in the last two months, a number of them in Britain, which loosened coronavirus travel rules to allow casts and crew to fly in for 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 only 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 among a number of high-profile actors who have contracted the virus.