16 Mar – It's not the dinosaurs dominating right now, it's the coronavirus (COVID-19). Due to health concerns, the production on "Jurassic World: Dominion" has now been halted. Filming for the third instalment of "Jurassic World" begun in Hawaii last February, for release in cinemas in June 2021. But with the recent halt, it is unknown whether it will face any delay in theatrical release. Deadline reported that aside from the Chris Pratt-starrer, Universal Pictures also momentarily stopped production on sports drama "Flint Strong" and an untitled Judd Apatow-produced romantic comedy. Universal is just one of the Hollywood studios that have decided to halt their ongoing projects, in order to curb the spread of the infectious disease.
Disney was among the earliest to stop their ongoing and upcoming film productions for now. The live-action "The Little Mermaid" that was supposed to begin filming next week, Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel", "Home Alone", "Nightmare Alley", "Peter Pan & Wendy" and "Shrunk" are among the halted titles, as well as "Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Seven Rings", which was filming in Australia but was stopped as director Destin Daniel Cretton begun self-isolation. The Disney+ series focused on The Falcon and Winter Soldier has also paused production since last week.
Warner Bros. last weekend still planned to go ahead with its "The Batman" and "The Matrix 4" productions, but the studio yesterday announced that the former as well as other titles like "Fantastic Beasts 3" and "King Richard" have been halted. TheWrap reported that "The Batman" will stop filming for at least two weeks, while Variety revealed that "King Richard" shooting scheduled is being reworked due to Los Angeles' rainy weather and "Matrix" will be shot in a soundstage in Berlin.
The first movie reported to have halted filming due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was Paramount Pictures' "Mission: Impossible 7". Late last month, the filming of the Tom Cruise-starrer in Italy had to be postponed due to the widening spread of the infectious disease in the country. The Sun UK is now reporting that the production will not resume in Italy. Reportedly, the studio has instead decided to build "a mammoth replica at Longcross Studios in Surrey", which includes the iconic Spanish Steps of Rome.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures has halted the European shoots for "The Nightingale", the World War II movie starring Dakota and Elle Fanning that's in pre-production, and the Rosamund Pike-starring "Wheel of Time". "The Man from Toronto", the action comedy co-starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, has also stopped production in Atlanta for now. Netflix has also delayed production on Mike Flanagan's "Midnight Mass" and last week already halted production for "Red Notice", the action thriller starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds that was originally planned to be partially filmed in Italy.