#The Batman and Other Movie & TV Projects Allowed to Continue Filming During 3rd U.K. Lockdown

Movie and TV productions in the United Kingdom will be allowed to continue despite the likes of England and Scotland going into a third lockdown. The decision was made to enforce much stricter measures following a spike in cases, that has been increasing over the last few weeks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last night that England would join Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in lockdown, bringing the UK to another standstill. However, it has since been confirmed that movie and television productions will continue as planned, and this includes the long-delayed DC Comics adaptation The Batman.

The UK’s secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, Oliver Dowden, laid out what the new regulations will mean for the entertainment industry via social media. “For the arts/creative sectors this means you should work from home unless you can’t – exemptions include for training and rehearsal of performances, recording studios and film & TV production,” Dowden wrote.
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For the arts/creative sectors this means

You should work from home unless you can’t – exemptions include for training and rehearsal of performances, recording studios and film & TV production

Outdoor heritage sites and gardens can stay open for exercise

— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) January 4, 2021

This most recent lockdown will come into force on Wednesday morning, and results in mass school and business closures until at least February. The majority of cinemas have been closed for some time now due to the Tier system that was already in place, but now the theater industry will see all of their shutters close once again for the foreseeable future. The lockdown order comes following warnings from medical experts that the UK’s National Health Service was quickly becoming overwhelmed, and that cases would continue to surge without implementing tighter restrictions.

During the first national lockdown back in March, all productions were forced to shut down until new safety measures could be properly introduced. Thankfully, with these now firmly in place, the industry will not be met with the same kind of upheaval as last time.

There are currently several high-profile productions taking place in the UK, one of them being director Matt Reeves’ take on comic book icon The Batman. Described as a noir-driven story, The Batman will follow a typically tortured Bruce Wayne around two years into his crime-fighting career. The movie will introduce a much younger Bruce Wayne than audiences are perhaps used to, who has become disheartened by the lack of impact he is having on crime in Gotham. Suddenly, a series of murders occur at the hands of The Riddler which lead Bruce down a path that will reveal dark secrets about his beloved parents, forcing him to confront the corruption going on in the shadows of his city, all while trying to catch The Riddler before he kills again.

War for the Planet of the Apes’ Matt Reeves is at the helm of The Batman and has cited several famous comic book arcs as inspiration, including Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween. Tenet star Robert Pattinson is suiting up as the Dark Knight, with the rest of cast including the likes of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson and Jeffery Wright as Commissioner Gordon.

Despite several delays due to the ongoing global situation, The Batman is now close to wrapping principal photography. The movie has been delayed twice from an initial June 2021 date and is now scheduled to be released in the United States on March 4, 2022.

The UK is also playing host to Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 7, with the news that productions can continue sure to save the crew from another maniacal rant courtesy of the Hollywood A-lister. Two untitled sequels, one of them being Mission: Impossible 7, are both scheduled to be released on November 19, 2021 and November 4, 2022 respectively, with both movies set to be helmed by director Christopher McQuarrie. Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 are expected to be the final parts of Ethan Hunt’s story, with McQuarrie teasing ties to the original movie that started it all.

This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.

Topics: The Batman