By Just one day after announcing the delay of a few high profile movies, Disney Studios has announced it will be suspending the production of a number of films due to concerns over the coronavirus. The two highest profile projects affected are the live-action The Little Mermaid remake and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Along with those films, Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, the live-action Peter Pan & Wendy, Home Alone, Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, and even Shrunk (sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) have been put on hold for the time being. A few of these were in the pre-production phase, but many had already started principal location filming.
In a statement given to press, a Disney spokesperson 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 situation with Shang-Chi is particularly noteworthy as Marvel and Disney halted production while waiting for the results of director Destin Daniel Cretton’s coronavirus testing. Cretton is currently self-isolating to protect the cast and crew attached to the project. It certainly is a scary time for the film industry.
Disney Suspends Film Production Amid Coronavirus Concerns [The Hollywood Reporter]
