Production for Netflix‘s big-budget, international heist adventure film Red Notice has halted amid the rapidly growing coronavirus pandemic. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the heist thriller stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds and had been shooting overseas since February.
Red Notice is not the first movie to postpone production, nor will it be the last movie to do so. Number of films and TV series from major studios have responded to the coronavirus outbreak by cancelling or postponing the production or release date. Johnson, who’s both starring in and producing the film, stated that production will halt for at least two weeks starting Monday. Netflix will continue to pay the cast and crew during the two-week hiatus.
Johnson shared the news on Saturday on Instagram in a video where he spoke to the crew members.
In the clip, he announces: “We really appreciate all your hard work and your patience during this time. But you know my number one goal for you guys and it’s our number one goal too: is that we’re gonna get everyone home to their families because really, that’s where we need to be right now: is home taking care of our families, and making sure they’re good, and supported, and taken care of, and protected. Especially our elderly. So we’re gonna make that happen. We’re gonna do everything we can to make that happen and make that happen fast. We love what we do and we’re very blessed and lucky but you know, this is the kind of stuff that can wait because the most important thing is to take care of our families.”