It's been confirmed today that Warner Bros. has decided to halt production on
The Batman.
While there were plans in place for the movie to move from London to Liverpool in an effort to protect those working on the DC Comics adaptation, the ongoing concerns surrounding the Coronavirus mean that a two-week hiatus has been decided as the best course of action.
This is pretty much exactly what every other major studio has decided to do, and the situation will more than likely be reassessed at the end of March. However, considering things are only expected to get worse in the UK (it's thought they're about two to four weeks away from where Italy is right now), there's a chance
The Batman could ultimately be heavily impacted by the pandemic.
"Warner Bros. Pictures feature production of The Batman will be on a two-week hiatus starting today," reads an official statement from Warner Bros.
"The studio will continue to monitor the situation closely."
Variety's Justin Kroll notes that,
"Sources telling me MATRIX still in production as majority of shoot is in soundstage in Berlin where they are taking precautions while KING RICHARD shoot has already been reworked because of bad weather in Los Angeles." There's no word on the next
Fantastic Beasts movie, but seeing as it was set to start shooting in the UK on Monday, chances are it too will be delayed.
As we mentioned above, it's seemingly become the norm for productions to go on hiatus until the end of the month, but depending on how bad things get with this pandemic, that could last longer.
We'll be sure to keep you guys updated as we learn more over the coming days and weeks.