Coronavirus: How has the entertainment industry been affected?
17 March 2020, 15:35
The Covid-19 pandemic has rocked the entertainment industry, causing the cancellation of major events and leaving the future of others in doubt.
Film, television and music have all been hugely affected, with experts warning the cost of the crisis will total billions of pounds.
Theatres in the West End and around the UK closed on Monday as part of stringent measures aimed at tackling the spread of the virus.
Odeon have closed all their cinemas, while the BFI Southbank also shut its doors until further notice.
The Coachella music festival has been postponed, the release date of James Bond film No Time To Die has been delayed, and high-profile stars including Tom Hanks and Idris Elba have tested positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Glastonbury is among the major events facing an uncertain future.
Here is how the coronavirus has affected the entertainment industry:
Film
- One of the biggest movies of the year, Bond film No Time To Die, had its release postponed from April to November.
- Disney delayed the release of several films, including its blockbuster remake of Mulan. Horror films The New Mutants and Antlers were also pushed back to unspecified dates later in the year.
- A Quiet Place II and Fast & Furious 9 were both delayed. A Quiet Place II was set to arrive in UK cinemas on March 20 while Fast & Furious 9 had a May release date. A Quiet Place II did not receive a new date, while Fast & Furious 9 will now arrive in April 2021.
- Sony's Peter Rabbit 2 was supposed to arrive in UK cinemas on March 27 but has been pushed back to August.
- The Secret Garden, starring Colin Firth and Julie Walters, has seen its release postponed from April 3 to August 14.
- Filming has been suspended on The Batman movie, starring Robert Pattinson in the title role, with Warner Bros announcing a two-week hiatus.
- Universal Pictures said it had stopped production on several titles, including Jurassic World: Dominion and Ice Cube boxing drama Flint Strong.
- Sony halted production on video game adaptation Uncharted for six weeks. The film, starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas, had been in pre-production in Berlin.
- The untitled Elvis Presley biopic has been placed on hold after Tom Hanks, who will play the singer's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, tested positive for Covid-19.
- Filming on Mission: Impossible 7 had been set to begin in Venice but has been put on hold after Italy became one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.
- Camila Cabello will play the lead role in a Cinderella musical but Sony said production at the UK's Pinewood Studios had been suspended for two weeks.
- Production on Disney movies The Little Mermaid, Home Alone, The Last Duel, Nightmare Alley and Peter Pan & Wendy have all been paused.
- Warner Bros has suspended production on Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts 3, with no date so far set for a return.
- Production on Matrix 4 was under way in Berlin, but that is another high-profile casualty of the virus.
Television
- Filming for series six of crime drama Peaky Blinders has been postponed, according to the programme's Instagram page.
- A BBC spokesman confirmed filming had also been postponed for Line Of Duty.
- Long-running US sketch show Saturday Night Live was supposed to return from a break on March 28, but production will not resume "until further notice".
- Amazon's Lord Of The Rings series was shooting in New Zealand but according to local press, production has been suspended and the cast has been told "there are no clear answers when we will resume".
- Marvel Studios has halted production on superhero series Loki, Falcon And The Winter Soldier and WandaVision.
- Warner Bros said production on the final season of long-running drama Supernatural had stopped.
- Netflix has stopped production on season four of Stranger Things. That is part of the streaming giant's move to shut down all scripted TV and film production in the US and Canada for at least two weeks.
- Apple has also put work on many of its shows on hold. They include The Morning Show, Foundation, See, Servant and For All Mankind.
- Production on the second series of neo-noir fantasy Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, has been suspended.
- US late night shows have not been spared. Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, James Corden and Stephen Colbert have all had their shows put on a production break.
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show is another that has been paused. The host said she was "already bored" when the news was announced on Friday.
- Season two of HBO drama Euphoria, starring Zendaya, has been paused.
- Production on AMC's The Walking Dead has been delayed, and spin-off Fear The Walking Dead is also affected.
- Highly anticipated political drama American Crime Story: Impeachment has been put on hold by FX.
- Production on teen drama Riverdale was suspended due to a coronavirus scare.
Music
- The world famous Coachella music festival has been pushed back from its original April date to October. Country music festival Stagecoach suffered the same fate.
- As it stands, Glastonbury is set to go ahead, with headliners Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Sir Paul McCartney.
- Billie Eilish has been forced to postpone a string of US tour dates.
- Record Store Day 2020 has been postponed by organisers by two months.
- Guns N' Roses postponed their forthcoming South American tour.
- Sir Elton John cancelled more than a dozen concerts in Canada and the US, which had been set to take place in March, April and July as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. The concerts are being postponed until a later date.
- The Who and Pearl Jam have postponed their tours.
- Foo Fighters have postponed their Van Tour 2020, frontman Dave Grohl said. Some dates have already been rescheduled
- Alanis Morissette will reschedule tour dates in Japan, Manila, Australia and New Zealand.
- The Jonas Brothers cancelled their planned April residency in Las Vegas. "We love you guys and we are praying for everyone's safety and wellness. We'll see you soon," the band said in a statement.
- Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke postponed the US leg of his Tomorrow's Modern Boxes Tour. He tweeted: "Ticket holders, please standby for information on a new routing for later this year. Apologies for the inconvenience."
- Celine Dion pushed back the March and April dates of the North American leg of her Courage tour. New dates are yet to be announced.
Theatre
Theatres in the West End and around the UK closed from Monday night.
The Society Of London Theatre (SOLT) - which represents hundreds of theatres in the capital including the National Theatre, London Palladium and London Coliseum - and UK Theatre said the decision was "not taken lightly".
The Royal Shakespeare Company also announced its three theatres would close following the Government's advice to stop all "non-essential contact".
The Royal Opera House said it would close the building to the public and cancel all performances in Covent Garden with immediate effect.
Earlier, a production of Endgame starring Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Cumming at London's Old Vic Theatre was cancelled.
Other
- Disney has closed its theme parks in California, Florida and Paris, shutting Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Paris Resort. The Disney cruise line has also stopped new departures.
- The Met Gala, one of the biggest dates in the fashion diary each year, has been postponed, host Anna Wintour said.
- Two major LGBTQ awards shows have also been postponed. Advocacy group GLAAD said its ceremonies in both New York and Los Angeles would no longer go ahead.
- Video game event Electronic Entertainment Expo widely known as E3, was supposed to take place in Los Angeles in June. However, it has been cancelled.
