Star Trek: Picard halts filming due to several positive COVID-19 tests

More than 50 members of Star Trek: Picard production reportedly tested positive for COVID-19

Star Trek: Picard halts filming due to several positive COVID-19 tests 1

Production on Star Trek: Picard has been shut down due to a sizeable COVID-19 outbreak among the show’s cast and crew.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that more than 50 members of the production tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, January 3rd, which was the series’ first day of filming after the Christmas break. No specific details about who might have tested positive were confirmed, but the news outlet reported that the positive test results have “impacted multiple zones, including cast.”

Production on the Patrick Stewart led-series has remained dark since Monday. But sources said that filming is expected to resume early next week or sooner. Though it’s not clear how the show plans to continue filming with this high number of positive cases among its cast and crew, it’s worth noting that Star Trek: Picard has one of television’s biggest crews. Reportedly employing more than 450 staffers, the sci-fi series is seemingly capable to resume filming with a skeletal workforce.

A report from last fall suggested that work on season 2 of Star Trek: Picard had already been completed, so the series appears to be quite far ahead in terms of production. Though the show is yet to premiere its second season and is already working on its third one, a delay in production still means money lost, so the goal is to resume filming as soon as possible.

Plot details about Star Trek: Picard season 2 are very limited, but it was previously revealed that the next batch of episodes will see the return of the fan-favorite character, Q (John de Lancie). It was also announced last September that Runaways alum Annie Wersching is set to recur as the Borg Queen, joining returning original cast members Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj/Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Chris Rios), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Orla Brady (Laris), and Brent Spiner (Data/Altan Inigo Soong) in the show’s sophomore run.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but it is set to debut on Paramount+ in February 2022, with season 3 premiering in early 2023.

Star Trek: Picard is one of the latest Hollywood projects to have been affected by the rise of the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19. Its fellow CBS Studios-produced series NCIS was also recently forced to pause its production due to positive COVID-19 tests. Major events like the Grammy Awards and red-carpet premieres for Scream and The Book of Boba Fett have been canceled or delayed as well. The Sundance Film Festival, meanwhile, has announced that this year’s festivities will be an all-virtual event once again despite previously planning for in-person attendance.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, ComicBook.com
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