Film productions came to a halt along with just about any job that put groups of people together in one space as the global pandemic swept across the planet. Today, some parts of the world are getting back to business as usual while other places are still very much in lockdown. For movies trying to be completed, this means that if a film is lucky enough to be in production in a place where COVID-19 is more under control, then production can apparently be restarted, as it turns out that Shand-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is back to filming in Australia.
Sydney, Australia's 7News recently confirmed that production is getting back underway and that all cast and crew are now back in the country. They all will be undergoing a required quarantine period, how long that will be was not reported, but two weeks has been standard in similar cases, and once everybody is given the all-clear, shooting will be back underway. The film is running 18 weeks behind schedule due to the shutdown. Check out a look at the set under construction in the lower clip below.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was actually hit earlier than some productions by the pandemic, as director Destin Daniel Cretton was put in quarantine and tested for COVID-19 prior to the production actually ceasing. His own test came back negative, but Disney made the decision to shut down production on its films anyway as a precaution.
This return to production is, more or less, right on schedule with what was reported a month ago. The expectation was that the movie would get back to work at the end of July and now it's happening in the first few days of August.
Originally set to open in February 2021, the movie has been pushed back and will now be released on May 7. The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe basically took a giant step backward as every movie has now taken over the release date of the next movie in line. Black Widow, which was supposed to open in May of this year, is now set to open in November.
Production can get underway because Australia has largely been able to contain COVID-19 and thus it's safer to get back to work, assuming those coming into the nation are also healthy. The same is true in neighboring New Zealand where the Avatar sequels have been back at work for a few weeks. Even so, those films have also been delayed, and Avatar 2 previously set to open in December of 2021, will now open in 2022.
Slowly but surely it looks like Hollywood is getting back to work. Now, the only question is when movies will be able to actually be shown in theaters again. Hopes are theaters will be open by early September, but we'll have to wait and see.
