It’s a tale as old as, well, not quite time, but roughly three months. Coronavirus shut down film and TV production in an unprecedented way. No matter how big or small the project, shooting amidst a pandemic has proven untenable. But there are signs that studios are starting to prepare for restarts in the near future and according to a new report, Netflix are looking to resume filming of The Witcher’s second season in August. Or so says Redanian Intelligence, a website that specializes in all things Witcher.
Considering how much things in the film industry have been disrupted, postponed or delayed as a result of coronavirus, it’s refreshing to hear news which bucks the trend, and that's exactly what we have for you today.
It’s a line we’ve become all too familiar with in the last three months. Coronavirus has caused disruption to just about every industry on the planet, but few have been more severely hampered than film and TV. The list of productions affected is vast. Some like Batwoman “only” had their final episodes cut, some like Doctor Who managed to complete filming in time – its season 12 Christmas episode will have post-production completed remotely - and others found themselves much earlier in the production process when the pandemic hit.
Hmmmmmm. Not often one for starting an article with one long reflective exclamation (is anyone?), but that’s my immediate response. Netflix’s number one film today – a dubious distinction given they produced this film – is The Last Days of American Crime. The newly released action thriller has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yep. 18 reviewers have sat down to digest it, and 18 reviewers have emphatically thumbed it down. The average rating in those reviews was 2.4/10. Considering the bottom grade many reviewers give is 2/10 (or one star), that’s pretty catastrophic.
Discipline was not a principle The Irishman ever tried to adhere to. With an ensemble cast and a 200 minute+ run time, excess was the name of the game, something appears to have been borne out by its budget. To get things straight, we already knew it had blockbuster financial backing – its originally reported budget was around $160million. Not exactly an indie affair. But a new report from The Hollywood Reporter has put the actual figure at over $225million. That figure is all the more remarkable for a film that never had a theatrical run. I’m no accountant, and I’ve no idea how Netflix’s economy operates, but that’s some outlay to recoup.
A few weeks ago, we reported on the news that all three seasons of acclaimed crime drama Hannibal were coming to Netflix on June 5th (today). Well, it looks like there’s been a hiccup with that.
The death of George Floyd sparked the United States’ most intense civil unrest for generations, and as with any social movement in the internet age, there’s been a social media response, too. #BlackOutTuesday saw millions of people post black squares on their accounts as a mark of protest at racial injustice, but that mark has been quickly latched on to by more than just people. Multinational corporations, charities, football clubs...if you can think of it, they’ve probably made a statement.
Godzilla vs. Kong will see two of cinema’s most famous monsters go head to head in a Hollywood blockbuster for the first time. A release could still be some way off, however, for though the film currently holds a November 2020 slot, it’s uncertain what impact COVID-19 will have on its schedule. But big news has already been revealed with regard to the audience it'll be aiming at.
