'Scream 5' Filming Continues, Despite Three Crew Members Testing Positive For COVID-19
Three crew members on the Scream revival have tested positive for COVID-19, but filming is pushing on. The crew members who tested positive will be immediately be quarantined and undergo more testing, with contact tracing put in place. But as the three affected crew members weren't in the group in contact with the cast and director, production will continue.
Deadline reports that three crew members working on the Wilmington, North Carolina production of Scream 5 have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), but it will not affect the production, which will continue filming with barely a blip. That's because the three crew members were not in the "primary pod" which includes the actors, the director, assistant directors, and DP — as part of the coronavirus safety protocols which are designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 transmission. Many productions are implementing a pod/zone approach, in which cast and crew are separated into multiple groups to ensure little to no interaction between them.
The three Scream crew members who tested positive for COVID-19 will immediately be quarantined and undergo more testing with contact tracing put in place, Deadline reports. The outlet shuts down rumors that production is halting, with filming set to resume as scheduled this week.
Deadline notes that this will become "par for the course for any film or TV production" in production during the pandemic until there is a vaccine. Only if the "primary pod" were affected — as Warner Bros.' The Batman was when star Robert Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19 — would production be forced to halt. But Scream 5 is staying on schedule (minus a few days).
Neve Campbell is coming back for Scream 5, which is set to be a soft relaunch of the beloved horror property under Spyglass Media Group and Paramount. Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott in the other four films, is set to join returning cast members David Arquette and Courteney Cox, along with new additions Jack Quaid, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison, and Sonia Ben Ammar. Plot details aren't known yet, but Radio Silence – the directing team that includes Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who brought us Ready or Not – are directing. It will mark the first Scream movie without Wes Craven at the helm.Scream 5 (which probably won't be called Scream 5) is set to open January 14, 2022, having been delayed from its original 2021 release due to the coronavirus pandemic.