Following President Trump's National Emergency declaration on Friday, Hollywood has announced production closures on many big and small Movies. One studio that appeared to be immune from the sudden closures was Warner Bros. It was previously reported that "The Batman," and "The Matrix 4," would carry on production as planned. Now, all of a sudden, "The Batman," is taking a two-week production hiatus.
The first major film to announce they were shutting down was the Elvis biopic, starring Tom Hanks.
Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for Coronavirus. "Elvis" went on hiatus in Australia, and several more films followed in its footsteps. "The Batman" started shooting on a sound stage in London and was heading to Liverpool for on-location filming. Now, Warner Bros. has pulled the plug and postponed the upcoming shoot, Variety reported.
'The Batman' on hiatus for two weeks
Warner Bros. has not said when or how long production was going to continue. It's unclear at the moment whether this temporary hiatus will impact the June 2021 release date. "The Matrix 4" meanwhile is continuing to shoot in Berlin.
Warner Bros. has moved the shooting into a soundstage where safety measures are being put in place to protect the crew.
Robert Pattinson has become the new Bruce Wayne and will be donning the suit as "The Batman." Warner Bros. has also brought in Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Colin Farrell is the new Penguin, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth.
'The Batman' feeling the impact of the Coronavirus
"The Batman" joins a long string of films that have been put on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Universal announced that "Jurassic World: Dominion" and "Flint Strong," would be placed on hiatus, while Sony has placed Kevin Hart's upcoming film "The Man From Toronto," on hiatus as well.
With Hollywood pushing back many of their big blockbusters, movie theaters are feeling the pain of their decisions. There's now serious concern that theaters could be the next industry to take a massive hit financially. Cities across the country have started to cap crowd sizes for public gatherings. California limits events to 250, while New York limits events to 500.
Even if the country doesn't force theaters to close, theaters' hands could be forced. Moviegoers could possibly end up choosing to stay home instead of going into close contact environments. AMC and Cineplex have cut seating capacity by 50 percent in all their theaters. The Alamo Drafthouse is taking extra precautions, including sanitizing theaters between each showing. The Coronavirus could impact the future of Warner Bros. for a very long time.