'The Batman' Director Matt Reeves Misses Premiere Because He 'Got COVID': 'A Great Heartbreak for Me'

Director Matt Reeves had to miss the world premiere of his new movie The Batman after testing positive for COVID.

Stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, John Turturro, Colin Farrell, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis and Jayme Lawson all attended the event Tuesday evening at New York City's Josie Robertson Plaza in Lincoln Center, though director Reeves, 55, had to sit it out and quarantine.

Reeves did appear virtually as the cast stood onstage at the screening, addressing the audience remotely.

"We were taking the film around and doing the press tour. Despite being double-vaccinated and boostered, I got COVID. The good news is that I'm healthy, I'm good. But I'm not with you," he said, according to Variety. "It's a great heartbreak for me because this movie means so much to me. It was a five-year journey for me and I'm really excited that we're sharing it with you tonight."

"I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, the incredible crew that we made this movie with. They are such incredible craftsmen, artists … the best crew that we ever worked with. I know that so many of you are there tonight. I'm so sad that I'm not there with you. I'd like to thank each and every one of you, name by name, though they informed me that this movie we made is quite long."

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Reeves was able to attend a Feb. 23 London screening of The Batman. His film experienced several production delays due to the pandemic in the past two years before making its way to theaters.

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The filmmaker recently told Collider about screening the movie for test audiences before locking in the final version.

"They would come to a screening and then suddenly they realized they were seeing a Batman movie, and it showed how much love there is for Batman, which was so exciting for me," he recalled. "Because of course, I've loved this since I was a kid and to be in an audience and have that big-screen experience after we've all been away from it for so long and to see people cheer and to see people get excited and then to see them get wrapped up."

"I mean, there'd be moments where there was just utter silence and you were like, 'Okay, people love Batman and they're into this,' and that was exciting. That to me was the best part of the testing," said Reeves.

The Batman is in theaters Friday.