HBO’sGame of Thronesprequel seriesHouse of the Dragonhas become the latest major production to be shut down due to Covid19 in the last week. On the day that many had declared “Freedom Day”, when masks and social distancing would be pulled back in the UK and other countries, the UK shoot on the epic Thrones prequel had to be halted for two days after a positive Covid test in zone A, including cast and crew.
It is believed that a production member tested positive and to comply with guidance this had meant thefilming of the Targaryen storywill not be able to continue until Wednesday, while the individual and all close contacts are required to now isolate. It is not only theHouse of the Dragonseries that has been thrown into turmoil either as more and more disruption is caused by the spreading and increasing Covid numbers, particularly in the UK which is housing many of the current big productions that are underway.
Last week saw the second season of Netflix’s period dramaBridgertonshut down twice within days followed positive tests by two separate people days apart, and another Netflix production,Matilda, was also halted after a test. Today brought another industry blow as Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was forced to announce the postponement of his new musical,Cinderella, which was due to open in Londong, after someone brought in to perform a short cameo in the stage production tested positive on Saturday. With filming on the likes ofIndiana Jones 5going on in Scotland at the moment,Dungeons and Dragonsmoving around the country andObi-Wan KenobiandAnt Man and The Waspboth filming at times at The Volume in Pinewood Studios, it is a tense time for many filmmakers right now.
The British government have been adamant about pushing forward with removing the legal requirement of mask-wearing and social distancing from today, although at the same time, the Prime Minister has been encouraging businesses to continue to enforce these rules and keep their workforces safe, while he himself has been forced to make his “Freedom Day” speech from isolation. With so much uncertainty, we are likely to see much more disruption to shooting schedules before this gets any better.
The House of the Dragonis the first prequel to be green-lit in theGame of Thronesfranchise, andstarted filming in Aprilwith a targeted premier of 2022. How many delays like the current one the production has to endure and how this affects the readiness of the show to air on time is something that will just have to wait to be seen.
Based on George R R Martin’s novelFire & Blood, the series takes place three centuries beforeGame of Thronesanddetails the Targaryen dynasty many years before Daenerys Targaryenbrought it to its devastating end. The 10 part series stars Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Fabien Frankel, while Martin, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik share a number of crew credits including writing, producing and directing. This news originated atDeadline.
