LONDON (Reuters) – Production of the third film “Fantastic Beasts” has been suspended after a team member was positive for COVID-19, Warner Bros. said. Pictures Thursday.
The franchise, which comes from “Harry Potter” books and movies, features Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as “magizoologist” Newt Scamander.
Filming began in September at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, outside London, after the pandemic delayed its onset in March 2020, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“A team member from Fantastic Beasts 3 has been positive for COVID-19. The diagnosis has been confirmed as a result of mandatory and ongoing testing by all production staff, and the team member is currently on their own, ”said a Warner Bros. spokesman. Pictures in a statement.
“Out of sufficient warning, Fantastic Beasts 3 will stop making and will back up according to safety instructions. ”
The statement provided no further details.
The films “Fantastic Beasts” are set about 70 years before “Harry Potter” and include younger versions of author JK Rowling’s characters such as Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law.
The upcoming film, scheduled for release in July 2022, will also see Madds Mikkelson take over the role of the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald, originally played by Johnny Depp.
Depp was asked to leave the franchise at the end of last year after losing a libel case against a British tabloid that named him a “carrier”.
Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Edited by Gareth Jones