Coronavirus is on a steady rise in certain countries and countries have advised travel restrictions. Following the health advisories, Walt Disney Company has pushed the release of three of its films - Mulan, The New Mutants and Searchlight’s horror pic Antlers. While Mulan and The New Mutants were slated to release on 27 March and 3 April respectively, Antlers was scheduled to hit theatres on 17 April. Revised dates are yet to be announced.
Not just the Disney films, the release of Universal Pictures’ Fast and Furious 9 has also been deferred. The ninth installment is now slated to release on 2 April, 2021.
The pandemic has also prompted several television shows to not tape in front of a live studio audience. Ellen DeGeneres, host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, announced on Twitter that she will continue shooting her talkshow without a studio audience. She apologised saying she was “doing this for the health of my fans, my staff and my crew.”
Producers Telepictures issued a statement some time back saying, “With the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, and out of concern for our audience attending The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Telepictures will suspend audience attendance during tapings effective Monday, 16 March. This temporary measure will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and will not impact the production schedule of Ellen.”
Late night shows have also taken similar precautions. CBS’ Late Show With Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver are among those who have announced that they would tape their broadcasts in theatres and studios without a live audience.
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