All the Shows & Movies ShutDown Because of COVID-19

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Already coming off a five-year low in 2019, film and television production in Los Angeles is almost assured to bottom out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of when features, series and specials start up work again.

 

When Tom Hanks announced on March 11 that he and Rita Wilson had tested positive for the corona virus, they were in Australia doing production on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic. The Warner Bros. film, in which Hanks was to play Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker, shut down immediately.

 

As the corona virus has spread, and states have issued mandates to try to contain the pandemic, individual film and television productions — which can be the size of villages — have shut down across the globe. These shutdowns have had and will continue to have untold financial and cultural impact, and may reshape popular culture and its economic model for years to come.

Here are some of the larger headlines: Amazon has shut down not only “Lord of the Rings,” but has “paused on all Amazon Original series that are currently in production.” Netflix shut down all scripted film and TV production in the United States and Canada, Warner Bros. Television Group halted production on over 70 series and pilots, Disney TV Studios put 16 pilots and a handful of current shows on a temporary production hiatus, and Apple announced that all its shows produced by outside studios have been suspended for the time being. There are also shows — such as Fox’s “9-1-1” shows, and HBO’s “Insecure” — that have already finished production for the season.

Variety is keeping an updated list of what movies and television shows have been shut down or delayed.

 TV

 

“Succession” and “Barry” – HBO’s buzzy drama  and its Bill Hader-led comedy were both to begin shooting in April, but have now been delayed. According to an HBO spokesperson, “We are looking forward to resuming preproduction when it is safe and healthy for everyone working on our shows to do so. Where possible, our writers are continuing to write remotely.”

“The Witcher” – Henry Cavill and co. have had to shutdown production on season 2 of the hit Netflix show, which has been shooting in the U.K., for a two-week period.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” – The Hulu show, which was in production for its fourth season, shut down and will resume “as soon as it’s safe to do so,” series star Elisabeth Moss wrote on Instagram. “This show is my life and this cast and crew is my family,” she said. “Nothing is more important than making sure they and everyone around them is safe.”

 

“Lord of the Rings” – The Amazon series, which has been shooting in New Zealand, has suspended production for two weeks. According to the New Zealand Herald, which first broke the news, cast and crew were told that “there are no clear answers when we will resume production.”

 Untitled “Goonies” pilot –  Fox's meta "Goonies" project - in which a schoolteacher returns to her depressed hometown and “agrees to help three students who are pursuing their filmmaking dreams by putting on an impossibly ambitious shot-for-shot remake of one of the student’s favorite movies, ‘The Goonies.'” — has shut down production.

“The Bold Type” – Though Freeform hasn’t confirmed, actor Meghann Fahy posted to Instagram that “The Bold Type” has shut down.

“The Goldbergs” and “Schooled” – The two Sony shows for ABC were among the last network holdouts to shut production down. As of Friday, they still planned to shoot next week. But Saturday, Sony decided to stop shooting after all.

“Superstore” – America Ferrera confirmed on her Instagram that the show shut down on Friday. “Today is unexpectedly my last day shooting on ‘Superstore’ for this season,” Ferrera said. “We are shutting down production, as they are all shows on the Universal lot.” The finale was meant to be Ferrera's sendoff episode, but she hinted she might be coming back “when things clear up to finish Amy’s storyline.”

“Loki,” “Falcon and the Winter Solider,” and “WandaVision” – Marvel Studios has hit the pause button on its three Disney Plus shows currently in production. Pre-production on the other Marvel shows at the streamer will continue remotely, according to sources.

“Peaky Blinders” – Production on one of the U.K.’s most popular shows has been postponed, according to a BBC spokeswoman.

“Power Book II: Ghost” and “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” – The two “Power” spinoffs have powered down their production for the time being.

“Queen of the South” – The third season of the USA crime drama has been suspended for three weeks.

“Empire” – Production on the final season of the Fox drama has been shut down.

“Pose” – The FX show has halted production.

“American Housewife” – Season 4 of the ABC sitcome will return to production at a later date.

“Big Shot” – Starring John Stamos, the Disney Plus dramedy has been forced to close down.

“The Resident” – Production on the backend of season 3 has had to stop.

“Supernatural” – Warner Bros. shuttered production on the long-running CW series’ final season.

“Snowpiercer” – The TNT drama, based on Bong Joon Ho’s 2013 movie, has shut down production.

“Stranger Things” – As part of Netflix’s mass scripted shutdown, “Stranger Things” has halted production on season 4. The cast posted a widely shared video from their table read last week.

“The Ellen Show” – Ellen DeGeneres announced herself via Twitter that her talk show was suspending production completely until March 30.

“Varsity Blues” – The Quibi adaptation of the 1999 film hadn’t started production yet, but has been delayed.

“The Walking Dead” – Production on the massive AMC series is being delayed by three to four weeks, according to sources.

“Fear the Walking Dead” – Unlike its originator, “Fear the Walking Dead” was already in production, however, it will now take an extended hiatus.

“Kevin Can F— Himself” – The new AMC series is in pre-production, and now physical production has been pushed back by three to four weeks, according to sources.

“Atlanta” – Production on the new season of the critically acclaimed Donald Glover series has been put on hold.

“Snowfall” – Season 4 of “Snowfall” is also among the FX series affected by the Coronavirus.

 

“Fargo” – The upcoming fourth installment of “Fargo” has stopped production and the premiere date, which was scheduled to be April 19, has been postponed.

“Euphoria” – Production on the second season of the HBO show was about to begin, but has been delayed.

“Righteous Gemstones” –  The second season of the Danny McBride HBO comedy has shut down production.

“See” – Production on season 2 of the Apple TV Plus series with Jason Momoa has been halted.

“Servant” – The M. Night Shyamalan thriller was part of Apple’s shutdown of all shows produced by external studios.

“Lisey’s Story” -Produced by Warner Bros. and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, the Clive Owen and Julianne Moore show has been forced to call it quits, for now.

“Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” – Hailing from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” creator Rob McElhenney, the new comedy debuted its first season last month, but has now been forced to stop production.

“Suspicion” – The recently announced Uma Thurman Apple series has halted production in the U.K.

“Foundation” – The forthcoming series based on the book of the same name by Isaac Asimov has stopped shooting.

“For All Mankind” – Season 2 of the Sony Pictures TV-produced series has stopped production.

“American Crime Story: Impeachment” – The story of impeachment of Bill Clinton — with Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky and Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp — was in prep, and set to start production in April. It has been put on pause.

“Batwoman” – The CW show is one of the fast growing list of shows to temporarily halt its production under the threat of the Coronavirus.

“The Bachelorette” – “The Bachelor” may have just ended, but fans could have to wait a little longer than usual to see the next season of “The Bachelorette,” given that the competition series has suspended production.

“Young Sheldon” – The widely watched CBS shows has stopped production, along with a vast array of other shows.

“Genius: Aretha” – Production on the Nat Geo series which stars Cynthia Erivo as the queen of soul has been postponed for at least three weeks.

 FILM

“Avatar” Sequels – Production on the three planned “Avatar” sequels in New Zealand has been “postponed until further notice.” A group of the franchise’s execs were scheduled to fly over to New Zealand on March 20, but they will now remain in Los Angeles and plan to return to the studios in Wellington where shooting is taking place later this year.

“Matrix 4” – Warner Bros. shuttered production on "The Matrix" as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread. The film had moved from San Francisco to Berlin and was preparing to shoot the week of March 16 in Germany, but chose to hold off.

“Uncharted” – The Sony big screen adaptation of the popular video game has hit pause on its pre-production for at least a six week period, as the entertainment industry heads into uncharted waters due to the coronavirus.

“Fantastic Beasts 3” – With production expected to start on Monday in the U.K., Warner Bros. has postponed the third installment of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

“Samaritan” – MGM’s Sylvester Stallone thriller is going on a minimum two-week hiatus to keep safe. The production had been shooting in Atlanta.

“Vengeance” – B.J. Novak’s directorial debut has been put on a two-week hiatus. Details have been kept under wraps, but Novak, Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher and Boyd Holbrook are set to star in it.

“The Card Counter” – On March 16, Paul Schrader announced on Facebook that his movie “The Card Counter” had shut down “five days before wrap by my pussified producers because an LA day player had the corona virus.” The “Taxi Driver” screenwriter continued, “Myself, I would have shot through hellfire rain to complete the film. I’m old and asthmatic, what better way to die than on the job?”

“Red Notice” – Netflix has placed “Red Notice,” starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, on a two-week hiatus. The film had been shooting all over the world and recently moved to Atlanta.

“The Batman” – Warner Bros. has suspended production on Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” for two weeks. The film had been shooting on a sound stage with plans to move to Liverpool, and the company thought it was best to go on hiatus during the location change.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” – The third in the new “Jurassic” series had been shooting in London since February, but has been shut down as part of Universal’s across the board shutterings. It is scheduled to release in June 2021, but the disruption might change that.

“Flint Strong” – Another Universal film, this boxing drama stars Ice Cube and Ryan Destiny. It’s set to be directed by the feature directing debut of Rachel Morrison, the “Black Panther” cinematographer who made history with her Oscar nomination for “Mudbound,” a first for a woman DP.

“Shrine” – a horror thriller from Screen Gems, shut down for a four-week hiatus. It’s the directorial debut from screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Earlier on Saturday, Mark Duplass, had shamed sony on Twitter for not shutting down (Duplass’s wife Katie Aselton co-stars). The production, underway since February, had been in meetings for several days prior to the Duplass tweet over how to fully pause filming, one insider said.

“The Man From Toronto” – This Sony action-comedy with Kevin Hart, which on March 10 had replaced Jason Statham with Woody Harrelson, has paused the production start for the movie.

“Shang-Chi” – The Marvel movie suspended production because director Destin Daniel Cretton wasn’t feeling well, and was told by a doctor to self-isolate while he waited for the result of a COVID-19 test.

“The Little Mermaid” – Fans will likely have to wait a little while longer to be transported under the sea, as Disney has indefinitely postponed production on the live-action remake.

“Nightmare Alley” – Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming pic is one the productions that Disney has put a temporary stopper in.

“Geechee” – The Andrea Riseborough-starring supernatural thriller was suppposed to begin shooting in the Dominican Republic the week of March 16, but has suspended production.

“Home Alone” – Another upcoming Disney pic whose production has been delayed.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” – Hopefully this Disney film hasn’t been sent to Neverland because its production has been shut down.

“The Last Duel” – The Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Ridley Scott film is scheduled for a Dec. 25 release date, and it is unknown whether that will be affected by the production halting.

“Shrunk” – Disney has halted production on almost all its live-action films, and this “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” sequel is on the list.

“The Prom” – Ryan Murphy’s big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical has been forced to abandon production for the time being.

Untitled Billy Eichner/Nick Stoller/Judd Apatow project – This queer romantic comedy, one of the first by a major studio, was set to begin filming in April. Universal has confirmed that production has been delayed.

Untitled Elvis project – On Wednesday, March 11, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson self-quarantined after announcing they had both tested positive for the coronavirus. The Baz Lurhmann directed feature has been halted.

“Mission Impossible: 7” – The seventh edition in the iconic Tom Cruise film franchise was scheduled to shoot for three weeks in Venice, Italy. However, given that the entire country is currently on lockdown, Paramount Pictures has delayed the Italian leg of its production plans for the highly anticipated action pic.

“Birds of Paradise” – The ballet drama at Amazon has shuttered its production for the time being. Director Sarah Adina Smith shared the news via social media, saying that the production was six days away from wrapping.

“Official Competition” – The Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas movie has suspended its shoot in Madrid, according to it production outfit The Mediapro Studio.

“The Nightingale” – Sony’s Dakota and Elle Fanning pic has suspended its production, which was taking place in Budapest.

As the state, county and city contemplate how the economy and the media industry could reopen in the coming weeks, the medical numbers look stark!