VOD News | On 15, Mar 2020

Concerns about the coronavirus continue to spread through the entertainment industry, with MGM and Universal deciding to push back the release of James Bond film No Time to Die from April to November and Disney also delaying the cinema release of Mulan, New Mutants and Antlers.

As for the VOD world, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Studios and Apple TV are among the many media giants to halt production on the shows in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Friday, Disney also paused its live-action films, including The Little Mermaid and Home Alone reboot, while Marvel Studios added Loki and WandaVision to its previously delayed project The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Travel restrictions and event restrictions have been introduced in America and elsewhere, with President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency on Friday. These alone are the major factors impacting productions. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, for example, was filming in Prague, but the crew and cast were all called back to Atlanta partway through, after the US announced a travel ban on incoming flights from Europe (which will include the UK and Ireland from Monday 16th March).

Netflix, meanwhile, has halted all film and scripted TV productions in the US and Canada for two weeks from Monday 16th, in a precautionary measure to comply with the ban on large gatherings and other restrictions on movement. That means Stranger Things has halted in the middle of filming its fourth season, while Ryan Murphy’s film of The Prom has been temporarily shut down. Lucifer has also halted production, along with Grace and Frankie.

Other projects, such as The Witcher Season 2, which are filming outside of North America, are reportedly being assessed on a “case by case basis”.

The Power spin-off series Power Book II: Ghost and Power Book III: Raising Kanan have both shut down production for a week minimum, reports Deadline today, only a short while after STARZPLAY announced the projects as exclusives.

AMC has also put The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead on hiatus, while HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and Euphoria (both Sky exclusives in the UK) have been delayed, along with TNT’s Snowpiercer, which will be a Netflix exclusive in the UK.

Read on for a list of some of the most notable streaming shows that have so far halted or delayed production. For advice on the coronavirus, visit the official NHS site here.

Netflix

Grace and Frankie
Lucifer
Russian Doll
Rutherford Falls
Sex/Life
Stranger Things

Apple TV

For All Mankind
Foundation
Lisey’s Story
Little America
The Morning Show
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet
See
Servant

Disney+

WandaVision
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Loki

Amazon

The Wheel of Time
Carnival Row

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