This piece will be updated as more reports come in.
Last week, when the producers of the James Bond franchise announced that they were pushing back the release date of the latest entry in the series from April to November in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it felt like a sensible choice amid an impending global health crisis. It also seemed highly unlikely that the Bond franchise would be the only thing in Hollywood dealing with serious ramifications from the pandemic.
A week later, COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization with more than 118,000 cases worldwide, and with the United States reporting more than 1,000 cases and at least 37 deaths, the Trump administration has suspended most travel from Europe. Meanwhile, the crisis is beginning to affect even more parts of everyday life: the NBA has suspended its season, and much of the entertainment industry is dealing with the fallout of the virus’s rapid, continent-spanning spread. On the latter, here are some of the biggest ways COVID-19 is already affecting the people, productions, and businesses of Hollywood.
Black Widow Pushes Back Its Release Date
Tuesday, March 17
With major theater chains shutting down for weeks and no end to the coronavirus pandemic in sight, Disney announced Tuesday that Marvel’s Black Widow will have its release date pushed back. This felt like a foregone conclusion, given that the film was slated to be released on May 1. A new release date has yet to be set. Along with Black Widow, Disney is also delaying the release of a couple of films under the Fox banner: The Personal History of David Copperfield and The Woman in the Window.
TV Productions Halted Across Hollywood
With a national emergency declared by the Trump administration on Friday and COVID-19 cases continuing to mount, widespread production suspensions have been announced for the television industry. Myriad shows under the umbrellas of Warner. Bros TV, ViacomCBS, NBC Universal, Amazon Prime, Netflix, AppleTV+, and Disney Television are suspending their respective productions. Big hits like Grey’s Anatomy, The Morning Show, The Bachelorette, and The Good Fight are among the shows affected. This freeze will also include late-night shows, such as The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers, which were on hiatus—as well as The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which aired a surreal episode on Thursday night without a live studio audience.
For the short term, that shouldn’t affect shows currently airing or in post-production. (It’s highly unlikely, for instance, that we’ll be deprived of the rest of Better Call Saul Season 5.) Rather, these production delays will likely have the inverse effect of what’s currently happening to the movie industry: Shows looking to air in the summer, fall, and beyond will probably have their release dates pushed back, leaving a gap between the airing of shows that have completed production and the airing of new shows that have yet to be produced—while movie releases will resume once things seem to return to normal. The longer these delays go on, the more we’ll be feeling their effects later into 2020. Right now, TV is one of the only things in the world operating under any guise of normality—but that’s temporary. On the bright side, there might never be a better time to catch up on the deluge of Peak TV.
Fast 9 Pushed Back a Year
Just a few days ago, Vin Diesel assured fans that Fast 9 wouldn’t be delayed because of COVID-19. “We need movies now more than ever,” our sleeveless king said. Alas, even the power of the Toretto family can’t stop the inevitable, as Universal announced on Thursday that the latest entry in the Fast & Furious saga, originally slated for release in May, will be pushed back a year to April 2, 2021.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Confirm Diagnoses
On Wednesday night, Hanks announced that he and his wife, Wilson, both tested positive for COVID-19. The couple are in Australia, where Hanks was preparing to start production on Baz Luhrmann’s as-yet-untitled Elvis Presley biopic. The actor was cast as Elvis’s stage manager, Tom Parker. “We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires,” Hanks and Wilson posted on their social media. “Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?”
The fact that the beloved actor colloquially referred to as “America’s Dad” contracted the virus—on the same night that it was announced that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19—hits at the sobering reality that millions of people are likely to be infected as COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe.
This is all very grim and scary, so if you want something to brighten the mood, can I offer you the surreal sight of a shirtless Chet Hanks stressing that his parents are OK and “not tripping” even though this coronavirus stuff is “crazy”?
I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve watched this video more than 15 times. Call it self-care.
A Quiet Place II Delays Release
On Thursday, Paramount Pictures announced that A Quiet Place II, which was slated to be released on March 18, will be delayed amid concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. A new release date has yet to be set.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together,” writer-director John Krasinski said in a statement. “Well, due to the ever-changing circumstances of what’s going on in the world around us, now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we are for all of you to see this movie ... I’m gonna wait to release the film till we CAN all see it together!”
Riverdale Suspends Production
The CW series Riverdale has suspended production on its fourth season due to concerns that someone working on the show was recently in contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. That member of the series is currently being evaluated.
“We are working closely with the appropriate authorities and health agencies in Vancouver to identify and contact all individuals who may have come into direct contact with our team member,” Warner Bros. TV said in a statement. “The health and safety of our employees, casts, and crews is always our top priority. We have and will continue to take precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world.”
Survivor Postpones Season 41
While Survivor is in the midst of one of its most exciting seasons in years—I don’t even watch the show and I can feel my colleague Riley McAtee’s Winners at War enthusiasm flowing through me—the show’s upcoming season will be postponed. The 41st season was going to begin shooting at the end of the month.
“Though Fiji has no reported cases and is beautifully remote, our crew numbers over 400 and are flying in from over 20 different countries, creating a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan,” said executive producer and host Jeff Probst, per Entertainment Weekly. “This situation is unprecedented and we are learning more information every day. It is out of concern for the well-being of all of you that we have taken this step.”
First Disney+ Marvel Series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Puts Production on Hold
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier can’t seem to catch a break. The show had initially planned to shoot in Puerto Rico before two major earthquakes hit the country in January, forcing Disney to cancel those plans. Now, after moving the production for a week to Prague, the show’s production has been suspended again, according to Deadline. The Czech Republic’s capital has closed down schools, cancelled events like the Prague Film Festival, and imposed travel restrictions in hopes of containing the spread of COVID-19.
It is now unlikely that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will return to the Czech Republic for filming. Whether this delays the show’s planned August release remains to be seen—however, it’s worth noting that most of the series is being shot in Atlanta.
New York Late-Night Shows Taping Episodes Without Studio Audience
Beginning on Monday, New York–based late-night shows are being taped without studio audiences in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is, to put it in perspective, most of the late-night shows airing on broadcast television and cable, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Late Night With Seth Meyers, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, and The Daily Show With Trevor Noah. (Conan O’Brien, James Corden, and Jimmy Kimmel film their respective shows in Los Angeles; on Thursday, The Late Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! joined the rest of late night in taping their shows audience-free.) Saturday Night Live, which also films in New York, is currently on hiatus until March 28.
These in-studio precautions have also been taken with morning news shows and daytime talk programs, like Good Morning America and Dr. Phil.
Mission: Impossible 7 Production Suspended in Venice
Tom Cruise is constantly putting himself in danger for our entertainment in the Mission: Impossible franchise—in the last movie (Fallout) alone, he broke his ankle while performing a stunt, did more than 100 HALO jumps, and learned how to pilot a helicopter. But even Cruise can’t single-handedly take on a pandemic, as Paramount Studios announced in February that the seventh entry in the franchise would halt its production in Venice, Italy.
“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three-week shoot in Venice, the scheduled first leg of an extensive production for Mission: Impossible 7,” Paramount said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor this situation, and work alongside health and government officials as it evolves.”
Outside of China, which has effectively been on lockdown for months after the coronavirus originated in the central city of Wuhan, Italy has experienced the most incidences of the virus, with more than 10,000 cases as of this week. The rapid spread of COVID-19 in Italy has put a serious strain on the country’s hospitals, with doctors facing potential moral decisions with patients analogous to wartime triage.
Sports and entertainment are often used as an escape—from jobs and other stressors in our lives. These are unprecedented times, and things can feel even more perilous when outlets we use to get away from the world for a little while are also jeopardized. We may—and probably should—be reluctant to go to sporting events, theaters, and the like, if such things aren’t cancelled outright. But social distancing is important—for yourself and for the people around you who could be affected by COVID-19. Do whatever helps get you through the day: read a book, watch a dumb Netflix show, play video games. The entertainment industry is experiencing fallout from the pandemic, but it can still be our escape.
