While Avatar 2 is restarting production in New Zealand after a hiatus brought about the global pandemic, other countries have not quite caught up. Just this week, another production was shut down in Los Angeles for not meeting safety guidelines put in place to keep cast and crew safe while COVID-19 continues to plaque major cities.
Now it looks like the UK is aiming to get back to work, as they have given a special exemption for major blockbusters to continue shooting in England, including Mission Impossible 7. Cast and crew were prior required to quarantine for 14 days minimum before going to set. Now this rule is being lifted for a limited number of crew members so that production can get a jump start faster. Crews will still be required to live in contained environments, but will not be required to wait the 14 day period. The new policy comes after agreements with BFI’s Industry COVID-19 Screen Sector Task Force and the British Film Commission, who have decided the best way to proceed so that film industry workers can return to the field.
Mission Impossible 7 will be filming in Hertfordshire and Jurassic World: Dominion is scheduled to shoot at Pinewood Studios UK starting this month. Many of the Jurassic crew already completed, or were close to completing the 14 day quarantine before this announcement.
The Batman, the next Fantastic Beasts film, and Disney’s live action Little Mermaid are also expected to be resuming production in England that was cut short back in March.