Judd Apatow and his production company Apatow Productions are in development of a pandemic-set comedy film for Netflix. The prolific writer, director, and producer will be doing all of those for the untitled project. 

The film follows a group of actors and filmmakers locked down in a hotel in the midst of production coinciding with the start of the pandemic. Their goal: to finish the film they came to make. 

Apatow will be co-writing with Emmy Award winner Pam Brady, most famous for her writing credits on South Park, Team America: World Police, and more contemporary cult-classic Hot Rod. 

Pandemic driven media seem to be the new rage with the likes of Love in the Time of Corona, Songbird, and the Anne Hathaway led Lockdown all either released or in various stages of production. Now Netflix is jumping at this opportunity with Apatow at the helm. It is clear that the industry wants to capitalize on these experiences that everyone can relate with. 

But why? Why is Hollywood obsessed with this era in the world that, for lack of a better phrase, is awful. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent mitigation measures have changed life for the foreseeable future and essentially knocked out either an entire year or the rest of people around the world. 

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues after the pandemic is eventually over, but it is rather strange to see an already substantial amount of films coming out about this time in the world. To many, films and television is a way to halt the worries in the world and just enjoy something that is entertaining, and while this film could very well be entertaining, it might still be difficult to detach oneself to something that has been one most people’s mind for nearly a year now. 

Though it is an intriguing idea to have a comedy set during this era, and if when the film eventually comes out, if people are still interested in pandemic related media. Only time will tell if Apatow and company are ready for this challenge.

No production date is set.