Over the past week, we've seen a number of films push back their release dates as a response to the spread of coronavirus around the globe, and today found Disney announcing that they would be shutting down production and pre-production on a number of major projects for a short time.
In a statement, Disney said, "While there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on our productions, after considering the current environment and the best interests of our cast and crew, we have made the decision to pause production on some of our live-action films for a short time. We will continue to assess the situation and restart as soon as feasible." The films affected include THE LAST DUEL, the Ridley Scott directed film which stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, as well as THE LITTLE MERMAID, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, HOME ALONE, PETER PAN & WENDY, SHRUNK, and Guillermo del Toro's NIGHTMARE ALLEY. It's unclear exactly when production on these films will resume, but in the case of THE LAST DUEL, Deadline reports that Ridley Scott will be moving to the editing room to assemble the footage he's shot over the past four-and-a-half weeks.
In addition to Disney shutting down production on their live-action films, Netflix has also pumped the brakes on all of their TV shows and movies which are in production in the U.S. and Canada for at least two weeks, which includes the fourth season of Stranger Things. Apple has also halted production of See, Servant, and For All Mankind, with Amazon hitting pause on Wheel of Time and Carnival Row, and FX shutting down Y: The Last Man. Warner Bros. Television has also halted production on over 70 TV series and pilots, but on the feature-film side of things, Variety's Justin Kroll said on Twitter that production on THE BATMAN, THE MATRIX 4, and KING RICHARD will continue for the time being. Stay safe out there, folks.