Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman‘ is heading to Chicago in October to shoot exterior scenes, according to a new listing in Production Weekly and the Chicago Film Office. The production will mostly remain in the Loop area, although other locations may be utilized on an as-needed basis. It has not been revealed at this time if any of the cast will also be filming on location.
Production is set to film for five days split between two weekends, Oct. 16th – 18th, and Oct. 24th – 25th. The report also states that the shooting will feature “extensive driving sequences.”
Cast and crew of “The Batman” have been filming in the U.K. for the past week after a two-week production shutdown due to a positive Covid-19 result. Initially, reports simply stated that “someone on set” had tested positive for the virus. However, subsequent reporting indicated that it was Batman star Robert Pattinson himself who came down with the coronavirus.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson issued a statement last Thursday that simply read, “Following a hiatus for COVID-19 quarantine precautions, filming has now resumed on The Batman in the U.K.”
In addition to Pattinson, “The Batman” stars Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman; Colin Ferrell as The Penguin; Paul Dano as The Riddler; Andy Serkis as Alfred; Barry Keoghan as Officer Stanley Merkel, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.
Following numerous pandemic-related production delays, “The Batman” is currently slated to be released Oct. 1, 2021, a handful of months later than its June 2021 original release date.
The return of a Batman production to Chicago marks something of a reunion between longtime friends. A handful of scenes in “Batman Begins” (2005) were shot there. Many of the most thrilling and memorable scenes in “The Dark Knight” (2008) were shot there as well. And Chicago was again transformed into Gotham City for 2016′s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Reeves previously highlighted the importance he feels the setting lends to the overall feel of the movie, saying “I wanted to present it in a way that was really fleshed out, I wanted it to feel like an American city you’d never been to. I mean other iterations … the Burton one had very, very, theatrical, beautiful sets – and Nolan had the version that he created in Batman Begins and that was … parts of Chicago and parts of Pittsburgh. And what we’re trying to do is create a version of it that you haven’t seen before.”
