'The Batman' Director Matt Reeves Gives Update on Production Status as Film is Paused Over COVID-19 Concerns

The Batman director Matt Reeves revealed on Twitter late last month that production on the film had come to a halt amid rising concerns about the novel Coronavirus.

Now, Reeves has provided a new update to Deadline, explaining that "a quarter of the movie" has already been shot, and he's been spending his time on this hiatus, "pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and what’s to come." The film, which stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, is expected to be a "very specific mystery noir."

Reeves also explained that down-time from filming has allowed him to reevaluate "the tone of things," adding:

"It happens any time you shoot anything. The unexpected — happy accidents and things you didn’t quite expect: That is the lightning in a bottle for something that is alive. I would say that the changes really have to do with ‘Oh, seeing the tone of this’ with these scenes we haven’t done which connect to that part of the storyline. It feels like there might be an opportunity to explore some of that unexpected tone that we found. With these movies, you never have enough prep time, because they’re so complex and so enormous in so many ways. It also gives me a moment to think about the larger sequences that have yet to come up and how I want to realize those."

The filmmaker is currently in London, waiting until filming can resume.