The planned Jurassic World: Dominion shoot in Malta has been disrupted due to a coronavirus outbreak on the island that affected crew members. The third entry in the Jurassic World franchise reunites the three stars of the original Jurassic Park, namely Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, who will team up with current franchise stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. This time around, the dinosaur action will take place on a global scale, following their release into the wider world at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Jurassic World: Dominion began production earlier this year but, like all other movies, was forced to take a long break due to the coronavirus. However, it was also the first major blockbuster to return to shooting once filming restrictions in the UK were lifted. Despite the long delay director Colin Trevorrow recently said that the movie was not tweaked during shutdown, with the crew using the time to work on visual effects instead. There have since been a number of photos released from the set, including one that teased a connection to The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in the form of Site B, aka Isla Sorna.
Now, Deadline reports that an outbreak of coronavirus on the island nation of Malta has disrupted the filming plans for Jurassic World: Dominion. According to the report, four crew members from the island have been infected as part of a new uptick in cases on the island, causing the production to scale back in Malta. Initially, the plan was to shoot first and second unit, meaning the lead actors from the movie would be on location. Now, Universal says the shoot will just be second unit, which doesn't require the lead actors to travel there. You can see a comment from the studio below.
Jurassic World: Dominion will have a significant presence in Malta with a second unit crew shooting there from the end of August through to September. Working with an abundance of caution as we have done throughout this production, first unit will no longer shoot in Malta to keep our presence on the ground to a minimum. We’d like to thank the Maltese Government and Film Commission for all their support and we look forward to a successful shoot in this beautiful country.
The decision was also likely made due to new restrictions put in place by the UK government on people travelling there from Malta. All returning passengers will now be required to quarantine for two weeks, meaning production would have been delayed while waiting for the actors to quarantine. The situation now will mean that the cast can shoot their close-ups either on green screen or with a backdrop, which can then be edited in to the second unit footage shot on location.
While this may seem like a setback for the production, it is actually likely to streamline the filming process. Given that the entire cast and crew no longer have to travel, they may actually be able to speed up the filming process, as the actors will be able to shoot in a set that has already established its COVID-19 safety protocols. It's a rare piece of good news for Hollywood productions, which have been on the back foot throughout 2020.
The news also reveals that Jurassic World: Dominion is going to be a truly global movie. Previous movies in the franchise mostly shot in Hawaii when on location, so the fact that a Malta shoot was planned, in addition to studio work that included an arctic set, proves that the action this time will be worldwide. It's a change for the franchise, and hopefully allows for interesting and exciting new action set pieces.
Source: Deadline
