Once again, another major movie production is putting the brakes on their production due to the increasing spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Jon Landau, producer for James Cameron’s highly anticipated Avatar sequels, has confirmed with the New Zealand Herald (via THR) that production for the film has been suspended amid concerns surrounding the coronavirus in New Zealand.
“We’ve delayed it. We had plans to come down Friday night with a group of people and start back up, and we made the decision to hold off and continue working here [in Los Angeles], and come down there a little bit later than we’d planned,” Landau told the Herald.
“If I told you we are going to know something in two weeks I’d be lying. I might not be wrong – even a broken clock is right twice a day. But I would be lying because I don’t know. We’re in the midst of a global crisis and this is not about the film industry. I think everybody needs to do now whatever we can do, as we say here, to flatten the [coronavirus] curve.”
Landau did not elaborate on when production will resume though he mentioned that Cameron and he will be re-assessing the production schedule “everyday, because that’s how quickly things change.”
The first of four Avatar sequels is slated to release in theatres in December 2021, though it is unclear if this break will affect the film’s release date.
Aside from the Avatar sequels, a number of other major films have also paused their productions, including Keanu Reeves’ The Matrix 4 and Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die.
Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
