Universal has pumped the brakes on their production of FAST & FURIOUS 9 this Monday morning, after a stuntman was injured on the film's Leavesden, UK set. As part of a prepared statement, the studio revealed:
“We had an injury on the set of FAST 9 today in Leavesden with one of our stuntmen,” the studio said. “We have halted production for the day to focus on this situation.”
When contacted for updates, authorities reported: “An ambulance, three ambulance officer vehicles and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were called to Leavesden Studios shortly before midday today (July 22), following reports of a man injured in a fall. One patient with a serious head injury was transported to the Royal London Hospital by air ambulance.”
If you've been paying attention to your Hollywood news feeds as of late, you'd know that this is the second time that the UK-based studio has been made to report unfortunate circumstances within the month. In early July, a fire broke out at the studio that caused damage to the set of HBO's AVENUE 5, the upcoming space comedy television series from VEEP creator Armando Iannucci. The flames took a reported total of 15 hours to extinguish.
Sadly, reports of stunt-related injuries have become more common in recent times. In June, a crewman on the set of Anne Hathaway's THE WITCHES was involved in an altercation with another crew member, resulting in a significant neck injury. In August of 2017, DEADPOOL 2 stuntwoman Joi Harris died when she lost control of her bike in downtown Vancouver. Reports indicate that Harris was not wearing a helmet when her bike hit a curb, catapulting the Zazie Beetz double into Shaw Tower. There are other incidents, of course, though I believe that's enough for now. The fact remains that more precautions need to be taken when talented men and women are placing themselves in danger for the sake of our entertainment. Accidents happen, of course. However, we're losing and injuring good people at an alarming rate, nowadays. Perhaps it's time for an honest-to-goodness overhaul of the stunt overseer system?