Safety of film and TV sets has been a hot button topic for a number for years now, largely thanks to some terrible on-set tragedies. While the investigtion to the Rust shooting is still active, another terrible accident happened associated with the Netflix series The Chosen One. And after some deaths occured in the midst of filming, Netflix is suspending production and an investigation is underway.
The public was shocked just days ago when it was revealed that two actors have died and others were injured in a van accident related to Netflix’s The Chosen One. The series was in the midst of filming Season 3 when the tragedy occured near the Mulege on the Baja California Sur peninsula. According to Deadline, production has been shut down, and an investigtaion is happening into how this accident occured.
Redrum is the company in charge of filming, which made the decision to temporarily pause filming in the wake of the aciceent that occurred on Thursday, June 16th. Actors were reportedly on their way to the airport when it occurred, resulting in two deaths and more injuries. The identity of those who died have not been revealed yet.
While Netflix hasn’t issued a statement on the accident associated with The Chosen One, industry unions are getting involved. SAG-AFTRA issued a response, revealing that they’re getting involved to advocate for the cast of the series. It reads,
SAG-AFTRA has been in contact with Netflix and with the Mexican actors union ANDA about this incident and we are investigating the circumstances with local production. On set safety is always our top priority. We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that our members and others are safe in their workplace.
The public information about this tragedy is currently extremely limited, but that should change as the investigations continue. Given the seriousness of the crash, more and more people will presumably be paying attention as the news spreads. It’s currently believed the two actors died, while six other actors/crew members were also injured. Although those individuals are reportedly stable.
The Chosen One is a Netflix series about 12 year-old boy who learns that he is actually the reincarnated Jesus Christ. The first two seasons went across 12 episodes, with the third expected to further flesh out the story, which is told primarily in Spanish. It’s currently unclear if/when production might continue.
While this car accident technically happened off-set, it’s the latest example of cast and crew ending up in danger for simply wanting to do their jobs. Obviously the biggest example that comes to mind is the tragedy on the set of Rust, which resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Other recent accidents have happened on Deadpool 2, and Dylan O’Brien’s injury from The Maze Runner franchise.
