The release of The Batman has been delayed by five months in the latest round of changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The production, which sees Robert Pattinson take over as the caped crusader in a fresh reboot of the franchise, was halted for several months earlier this year and also suffered a further setback when Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19.

As a result the decision has now been taken to switch its release date from October 1, 2021 to March 4, 2022.

Last week it was revealed that the new James Bond movie No Time To Die has been pushed to next April and in a further blow to the cinema industry, the hugely-anticipated sci-fi epic Dune has now been moved from December 18 to The Batman's original date of October 1, 2021.

The news means that Wonder Woman (December 25) and Pixar's Soul (November 20) are the only major releases still on the schedule for this calendar year.

Ezra Miller's The Flash, which will also star the Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton incarnations of Batman, has moved from June 3, 2022 to November 4, 2022, while Shazam 2 has been knocked on to June 2, 2023.

Meanwhile, the upcoming fourth movie in The Matrix franchise has been brought forward to December 22, 2021 from its original release date of April 1, 2022 after production wrapped earlier than planned.