The COVID pandemic has thrown a lot of plans into question, and it has impacted millions of jobs around the world. The movie industry is no different. Everything was shut down back in March, and while some productions continue to be delayed, many more have resumed under strict COVID protocols.
The movie industry is certainly a resilient beast, and while its entire future may have been thrown into question by the COVID pandemic and resulting lockdowns, it has found a way to survive and thrive. Many major Hollywood films have been filmed - or are currently filming - through the pandemic, including these.
Mission: Impossible 7
Perhaps the biggest and most expensive movie currently filming through the pandemic is Mission: Impossible 7. Serving as the follow-up to the widely acclaimed Fallout, Mission: Impossible 7 will reunite much of the major cast, including Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson.
Filming began in September but halted in October after twelve different people contracted COVID. The filming process made headlines in late December 2020, as the media got hold of some leaked audio that saw an irritated Cruise yelling at some crew members for disobeying COVID safety protocols.
Uncharted
Based on the popular video game series of the same name, Uncharted will star Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Sully. Filming on the movie began on March 16, but shut down just a few days later owing to the worldwide COVID lockdowns.
Filming officially resumed in Germany throughout the summer before moving to Italy in the fall. Filming officially wrapped at the end of October, with Antonio Banderas being the only major cast member to test positive throughout the filming process.
Avatar 2
It seems as if Avatar 2 has been in the works for years. James Cameron has been talking about a sequel for the last ten years, but nothing much ever came to fruition. That is, until the late 2010s, when talk of filming finally got underway.
Principal photography on performance capture began in September 2017, with live action filming following a few years later. Filming began in New Zealand in May of 2020 following a two week hotel quarantine undergone by the cast and crew. Cameron concluded the New Zealand filming the following September.
Jurassic World: Dominion
Serving as the sixth installment in the incredibly popular Jurassic Park franchise, Dominion will serve as a direct sequel to 2018's Fallen Kingdom. Many Jurassic Park veterans will be returning for the film, including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern.
Filming was put on indefinite hiatus in March of 2020, but it officially resumed on July 6 with the cast and crew living in a rented-out hotel. Following further delays for positive COVID tests, filming on the movie officially wrapped on November 7, 2020.
Elvis
The world is finally getting a movie about Elvis Presley. Co-written and directed by stylish director Baz Luhrmann, Elvis is scheduled for release on November 5, 2021 and will star Austin Butler as the iconic rock and roll legend. Tom Hanks will also appear as Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Hanks tested positive for COVID on March 12, 2020, making him one of the first major movie stars to test positive for the virus. He luckily recovered, and filming on the movie resumed in September.
The Batman
Serving as yet another reboot of the Batman franchise, Matt Reeves' The Batman will cover Bruce Wayne's second year of professional crime fighting. Playing Batman is Robert Pattinson, who will star alongside Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman.
Filming on the movie resumed in September but quickly halted again after Pattinson tested positive for COVID. Like Hanks, Pattinson luckily recovered and filming was allowed to resume. It is expected to continue until February 2021.
The Little Mermaid
Disney looks to continue its tradition of live-action remakes with The Little Mermaid. Serving as a remake of the iconic 1989 original, this will feature Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Halle Bailey as Ariel.
It will also feature new songs by Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also did the music for Moana). Some actors started recording their lines by the end of July, and in November 2020, Disney's CEO Bob Chapek announced that every movie that had been delayed due to COVID had resumed filming.
The Harder They Fall
The Harder They Fall is shaping up to be a good, old fashioned traditional Western - only with a hint of truth behind it. Distributed exclusively by Netflix, The Harder They Fall will star Jonathan Majors as Nat Love, a real-life African-American cowboy who seeks revenge for his parents' murder. Idris Elba will also star as a character named Rufus Buck.
The COVID lockdowns hit right before The Harder They Fall could begin filming, and they eventually started up in September. Filming was briefly paused in mid-October after one of the actors had tested positive.
We Need To Do Something
We Need to Do Something is an upcoming psychological horror, and it will serve as the first movie from production company Spin a Black Yarn. The movie will star Sierra McCormick as Melissa, a woman who is trapped inside of a bathroom with her family during a fierce and destructive tornado.
The movie will also star Vinessa Shaw and Pat Healy. The movie was completely filmed throughout the fall of 2020, spanning four weeks throughout September and October.
Don't Worry Darling
While mostly known for her acting, Olivia Wilde directed the widely acclaimed Booksmart in 2019. Her anticipated follow-up is Don't Worry Darling, which is set to star Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, and Wilde herself.
The plot of the movie remains relatively unknown, aside from the fact that it will follow a 1950s housewife who discovers some type of secret. Pre-production occurred throughout much of the fall, and filming finally commenced on October 20. However, it was temporarily halted just a few days later after a crew member contracted COVID.