Positive Coronavirus Results Halt 'Jurassic World: Dominion' Filming
It’s one misfortune after another for Jurassic World: Dominion. After earlier announcing the change of its premiere date, the production has now been forced to halt filming as positive coronavirus results surface.
Variety reports that the film’s director, Colin Trevorrow, shared the news on his Twitter account. According to him, the set had a number of positive coronavirus tests that eventually tested negative after. However, the strict safety protocols on the set required those who tested positive to quarantine.
A spokesperson for Universal Pictures echoed Trevorrow’s account, saying that there were only a small amount of positives amongst the crew. However, the rigid protocols in place to ensure the safety of the cast and crew has resulted in a two-week delay in filming.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, this is not the first time that Jurassic World: Dominion has had to halt filming. Back in March, during the early days of the global coronavirus pandemic, the film had to shut down production just like most movies being shot at the time.
The film was only able to start shooting again back on July 6, with health and safety protocols in place that, reportedly, added more than $3 million to the budget. Some of these health and safety protocols include a quarantine bubble for the cast and crew as well as coronavirus testing thrice a week.
The news comes a day after Universal Studios pushed the premiere of Jurassic World: Dominion to the summer of 2022, a full year away from the original premiere date of June 10, 2021.
That announcement, in turn, came after Warner Bros. announced that they would be moving the premiere date of The Batman to March 4, 2022, rather than the original premiere date of Oct. 1, 2021.
Movie premiere date reshuffling has become one of the economic side effects brought about by the global coronavirus pandemic. Because of Tenet’s anemic performance at the United States box office, film studios are now hesitating to release their movies while the pandemic is ongoing.
A number of other movies have also changed their premiere dates due to the pandemic. Black Widow, Disney’s latest superhero offering, has moved to May 7, 2021. Wonder Woman 1984 is set to premiere on Christmas Day this year, although there is speculation that it may still change.
Superhero movies like The Flash and Shazam! 2 have also moved, with Shazam! 2 premiering on June 2, 2023, and The Flash arriving in movie theatres on Nov. 4, 2022. Black Adam, which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has not been given a new release date yet.