Netflix halts all production in US and Canada for two weeks due to coronavirus outbreak: report

In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, streaming giant Netflix has decided to stop production of all its TV shows and movies in US and Canada, Entertainment Weekly reported. In doing so, Netflix has joined a host of other production houses in cancelling shoots and film releases.

The report said that the step will apply to all “its scripted TV shows and movies in the U.S. and Canada for at least two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak”. The EW report added that the measure had been taken “due to government restrictions and health/safety precautions”.

On Friday came the news that big production houses such as Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Co have decided to postpone the release of films such as Fast and Furious 9 and Mulan respectively.

Disney had held a red-carpet premiere on Monday to promote Mulan and said at the time that the film would be released in the United States as planned on March 27. But on Thursday, as US authorities urged against large gatherings and took other steps to stop coronavirus spread, Disney said it had decided “out of an abundance of caution” to postpone the debut of Mulan as well as April releases The New Mutants and Antlers.

“We truly believe in the moviegoing experience, and we are looking at new potential 2020 release dates to be announced at a later date,” a Disney spokesperson said.

F9, the new Fast and Furious movie from Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures, was scheduled to debut May 22. Its release was delayed by nearly a year to April 2, 2021.

Earlier this week, Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive to coronavirus in Australia. Tom was in Melbourne for the shoot of the upcoming film, a biopic on American music legend, Elvis Presley.

Singer Celine Dion had made an announcement that two of her upcoming shows had been postponed to November as she was down with a cold. She, however, tested negative for coronavirus.

(With Reuters inputs)

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