Amazon’s Lord of the Rings shuts down for Coronavirus. Almost every other news story this last week has been related to a production being shut down for fears of spreading Coronavirus. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings appears to be jus the next in a long list of Coronavirus based shut downs. .
The Tolkien based prequel was filming in New Zealand, though only for a short while. The plan for Lord of the Rings was to film the opening two episodes of Season 1. The production was then set to go on hiatus until Season 2 had been fully written. After that, production was to resume and filming on the rest of Season 1 and all of Season 2 was to take place.
It now looks as though those first two episodes won’t be finished before that planned hiatus. Here is the official statement from Amazon courtesy of THR.
“In an abundance of caution, UAP [Untitled Amazon Project] has suspended production for the next two (2) weeks commencing Monday, March 16. This is done in an environment where travel restrictions directed at the control of Covid-19 are issued daily by New Zealand and most other countries.”
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No one involved in the production is believed to have tested positive for the coronavirus but cast and crew were directed to “not report to the set or to the studio without the express permission of your supervisor.”
The memo said the shutdown was being done to
“Minimise stress on the resources and infrastructures around us by doing our part to reduce population density in our communities and daily activities, in efforts to help reduce the spread of the virus. We will provide updates as we continue to evaluate trends and developments.”
Lord of the Rings isn’t the first production to be cancelled by Coronavirus and likely won’t be the last. As for whether this delay could have an effect on the release date? For now I’d say it is unlikely. As said above, Lord of the Rings was already due a lengthy hiatus from filming anyway. Surely this delay won’t push them back too far then? Though, I guess it will deoend on how long production has to be postponed for
Fans across the globe are going to have watched everything by the time this self-isolation period is over. These delays though, could result in a bit of a black hole for content within the next year, but let’s hope not eh?
What do you think of all thee Coronavirus shutdowns? Are you worried about the release date as Amazon’s Lord of the Rings shuts down for Coronavirus? Leave your thoughts below as always.
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SOURCE: THR
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