A spokesperson for Disney explains that the decision to shut down filming is taken simply as a precautionary measure until the coronavirus pandemic blows over.
- March 14, 2020
AceShowbiz - Disney bosses have halted production on movies including reboots of "The Little Mermaid (1989)", "Peter Pan", "Home Alone" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" until the coronavirus chaos blows over.
Rob Marshall had been preparing to begin filming the live-action adaptation of "The Little Mermaid (2020)" in London next week (begins March 16), but that shoot, along with director David Lowery's "Peter Pan & Wendy", has been postponed.
Actress Ellie Kemper's Disney+ revamp of "Home Alone", and "Shrunk", starring Josh Gad and Rick Moranis, are also among the projects affected by the shutdown, as are Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel", and Guillermo del Toro's "Nightmare Alley", which had been in production in Toronto, Canada with Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.
A Disney spokesperson insists the action is simply a precautionary measure.
"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," the representative says.
"We will continue to assess the situation and restart as soon as feasible."
The news emerges a day after Disney chiefs postponed the theater launch of the new "Mulan" movie, which had been due to open at the end of this month, as well as April releases for Marvel superhero blockbuster "The New Mutants" and horror film "Antlers".
Meanwhile, production on Disney Television Studios' limited series, "Genius: Aretha", starring Jennifer Hudson as the late soul superstar, has been put on hiatus for at least three weeks, as filming on DC Comics' TV series "The Flash", which shoots in Vancouver, Canada, has also been paused "until further notice" as the global pandemic worsens, reports Deadline.
