Hours after Warner Bros. moved Denis Villeneuve's Dune to October 1, 2021; the studio has now unsurprisingly pushed back Matt Reeves' highly anticipated The Batman to March 4, 2022.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that, unlike Dune, this latest move can be solely attributed to significant production delays caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Robert Pattinson-starrer has already been shut down twice this year, first in March during the initial outbreak, and then again in September for two weeks after it had only resumed filming for a few days prior to Pattinson testing positive for the coronavirus. He successfully recovered and was able to resume work on September 17.
The studio has also announced a number of other changes to the upcoming DC lineup, as Andy Muschietti's The Flash has moved back a few months to November 4, 2022; David F. Sandberg's Shazam: Fury of the Gods has shifted nearly an entire year to June 2, 2023 and Jaume Collet-Serra's Black Adam has been (temporarily) removed from their release calendar entirely.
It's not all bad news, though, as Lana Wachowski's The Matrix 4 has been moved up to December 22, 2021, taking the date formerly occupied by the Dwayne Johnson-fronted superhero picture.
With The Batman taking that aforementioned March 2022 date, Minecraft is also now undated.
In addition to Pattinson, the film boasts an all-star supporting cast consisting of Golden Globe-winner Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) as Commissioner James Gordon, Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies) as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Golden Globe-nominee Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) as Edward Nashton/The Riddler, Golden Globe-nominee Andy Serkis (Black Panther) as Alfred Pennyworth, Golden Globe-winner Colin Farrell (The Gentleman) as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, newcomer Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, 2x Golden Globe-nominee John Turturro (The Night Of) as Carmine Falcone and Golden Globe-nominee Peter Sarsgaard (Green Lantern) as Gil Colson.
Gil Perez-Abraham (Orange is the New Black), Charlie Carver (Teen Wolf) and Max Carver (Teen Wolf) have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
Plot details are being kept locked away at Arkham Asylum for now, but the film is rumored to be a loose adaptation of the popular DC Comics Batman stories The Long Halloween and Year One.
Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes) is directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mattson Tomlin (Little Fish). Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Greig Fraser will be behind the camera.