Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Ledy discussed the decision to shut down production on the fourth season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted businesses across the world the close and people to remain indoors in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Consequently, multiple studios have paused or postponed production on several projects due to the high number of cast and crew members that are typically assembled on a single set.
Among the productions affected by the coronavirus, pandemic continues to develop is Netflix’s Stranger Things, which will paused production on the fourth season for at least two weeks. During an interview with Variety, executive producer and director Shawn Levy recalled the moment the cast and crew were gathered to be informed of the shutdown:
“I was having phone calls with Netflix while directing takes and blocking scenes. We shared the news with our cast and crew that we would be pausing production out of an abundance of caution. There were no sick crew members, no one was exhibiting symptoms, but it seemed like the right thing to do.”
Though Shawn Levy noted that the conversation was a “bittersweet moment,” he added that he was “hard-pressed” to come up with a situation that compares to the coronavirus pandemic in all his years as a filmmaker. The Stranger Things executive producer added that he hopes people will follow the recommended measures to slow to spread of the coronavirus and that the shutdown will not delay the release of the fourth season in the long term:
“We want primarily to make sure that all our crew and cast remain safe and healthy in these scary times, and secondarily that as people who love and feel devotion to this show that we make, be hopeful that if everyone does follow protocols and these distancing strategies, with commitment, in the short term, we can avoid the ramifications becoming long term.”
Shawn Levy also noted that Netflix agreed to pay the crew members for two 40-hour work weeks that will be missed during the production delay.
Here is the official synopsis for the third season of Stranger Things:
“It’s 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana, and summer’s heating up. School’s out, there’s a brand new mall in town, and the Hawkins crew are on the cusp of adulthood. Romance blossoms and complicates the group’s dynamic, and they’ll have to figure out how to grow up without growing apart. Meanwhile, danger looms. When the town’s threatened by enemies old and new, Eleven and her friends are reminded that evil never ends; it evolves. Now they’ll have to band together to survive, and remember that friendship is always stronger than fear.”
Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, and Cara Buono.
Stranger Things seasons 1 to 3 are now available on Netflix.
Source: Variety
