The Batman Director Matt Reeves Delivers DC Movie Update Amid Coronavirus Shutdown

The Batman writer-director Matt Reeves expects to finish shooting in London but says "the situation is fluid" after filming on his DC Comics movie was halted because of coronavirus on March 14. The Robert Pattinson-led Batman was seven weeks into filming when studio Warner Bros. announced a two-week pause; on March 25, Reeves confirmed production was shut down indefinitely and would remain so until "it is safe for us all to resume." Warner Bros. has yet to stake a new release date for The Batman but the delay in filming makes it likely the film will be pushed back from its scheduled June 25, 2021 release date.

"We're not officially editing right now," Reeves told Deadline. "We've actually shot a quarter of the movie and I have been pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and what's to come."

Asked if Batman would be required to relocate to outside of the UK to continue and complete filming, Reeves said, "It's way too early to say, I can't imagine we wouldn't finish in London. The situation is fluid."

Reeves also expects to leave the script he penned with Mattson Tomlin untouched amid the pause in production. "It took me two years to work on that story, and it's a very specific mystery noir that's been really thought out by me and my partners," he said.

The Batman is decidedly not an origin story, instead focusing on an already established caped crusader early into his career as a costumed crime-fighter.

"I wanted to do not an origin tale, but a tale that would still acknowledge his origins, in that it formed who he is," Reeves told Nerdist when promoting Amazon's Tales From the Loop, executive produced by Reeves. "Like this guy, he's majorly struggling, and this is how he's trying to rise above that struggle. But that doesn't mean that he even fully understands, you know. It's that whole idea of the shadow self and what's driving you, and how much of that you can incorporate, and how much of it you're doing that you're unaware of."

In The Batman, Pattinson's Bruce Wayne goes up against Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Penguin (Colin Farrell), and the Riddler (Paul Dano). Other characters include James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), Carmine Falcon (John Turturro), Gil Colson (Peter Sarsgaard) and Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis).

Warner Bros. next releases the Patty Jenkins-directed Wonder Woman 1984 on August 14. The Batman is currently set for June 25, 2021.