Michael Bay producing a pandemic thriller which starts shooting in 5 weeks

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

You knew it was coming; Hollywood doubtlessly has countless COVID-19/pandemic scripts waiting in the wings, which means that just as soon as the world is ready to put this whole mess behind us, we'll be inundated with more pandemic projects than we know what to do with. Deadline has reported that Michael Bay will be teaming with former Paramount production chief Adam Goodman's Invisible Narratives to produce SONGBIRD, a pandemic thriller which will actually start shooting in Los Angeles during the lockdown in just five weeks.

Deadline notes that SONGBIRD might very well be the first film to shoot in Los Angeles, and will be under the direction of Adam Mason (Into the Dark), who co-wrote the script with Simon Boyes (Misconduct). The film is said to be in the spirit of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and CLOVERFIELD and will take place two years in the future. "The pandemic has not gone away," reads Deadline's description. "Lockdowns have been rolled back and then reinstated and it becomes even more serious as the virus continues to mutate. I don’t believe there are supernatural elements involved, but there is governmental conspiracy and paranoia and how it impacts the cast of characters who remain in lockdown." Casting is said to be underway, with the filmmakers providing remote training for the actors. As far as exactly how the filmmakers plan to shoot the movie with the lockdown still in place, no one would say for sure, but Deadline has said that the filmmakers have run their plans by the guilds and that they've been approved.

From what Deadline was told, the SONGBIRD crew will come in to prep the shots, after which they will leave, allowing the actors to enter. There won't be any scenes in which the actors engage face-to-face, and social distancing rules will be followed.