‘The Batman’ release date pushed back to 2022 amid pandemic concerns

by Judy Kurtz - 10/06/20 9:18 AM ET

It’ll be almost another two years before “The Batman” debuts in theaters, with the release date getting pushed back just weeks after its star tested positive for COVID-19.

Warner Bros. announced late Monday that the latest big-screen Caped Crusader story, starring Robert Pattinson, will hit theaters in March 2022. It had originally been scheduled to premiere in October 2021. The studio didn’t cite a specific reason for the postponement.

But the move comes after production was temporarily paused last month when Pattinson, who plays the lead role, was diagnosed with COVID-19. Filming had also previously been delayed on the potential box office blockbuster earlier this year, when many Hollywood productions shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Batman” is hardly the only flick that’s seen its release date shifted as Hollywood grapples with a devastating decline in ticket sales and movie theater shutdowns.

Last week, the filmmakers behind “No Time to Die,” the latest James Bond movie, announced the release date would be pushed back for a second time — to April 2021.

On Monday, Regal Cinemas, the country’s second-largest theater chain, said it would close its doors across the country.

“We are like a grocery shop that doesn’t have vegetables, fruit, meat,” Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Regal’s parent company, Cineworld, told The Wall Street Journal.

Tags Coronavirus COVID COVID-19 Robert Pattinson The Batman