The crossing of the Star Trek galaxy encounters some turbulence. As the teams busied themselves with making Picard season 2, they were forced to take a break after the discovery of numerous Covid-19 cases.
The Omicron variant throws a chill in Hollywood. Faced with the resurgence of the pandemic, the various studios are forced to take some major decisions to guarantee the safety of their employees. This is the case on the sets of Picard, who according to The Hollywood Reporter has just taken a break of several weeks in his shooting. In question, many positive tests for Covid-19, just a few days after the end of the year holidays.
According to the American media, there are no less than 50 cases among technical teams and cast members. Fortunately, the illustrious Patrick Stewart is not one of them. On the other hand, employees of zone A are concerned. In cinematic jargon, “Zone A” designates members of the cast and people who come into close contact with them. Paramount therefore cannot afford to continue like this, with no less 450 people who work on the sets every day.
A delay to be expected?
Picard had to come back to our screens at the end of february, for the second season adventures of the character played by Patrick Stewart. This interruption could therefore have serious consequences on the already tight schedule of Paramount Pictures. Especially since to catch up with the delay of previous years, again linked to the pandemic, the firm had planned to shoot both seasons in a row. According to sources familiar with the matter, the return to the set could be recorded at the beginning of next week.
For the moment, the platform has not communicated on this subject. We can therefore hope that the first episodes are already in the box, just to give the teams time to concoct the sequel. The series created by Alex Kurtzman and Michael Chabon was launched on January 24, 2020. In France, it was broadcast in US + 24 on Amazon Prime Video. This should be the case for this new burst of episodes.
Towards a new break for Hollywood?
Obviously, these forced breaks all over the place question the ability of the different studios to meet their calendar requirements in the coming months. The arrival of the Omicron variant hits the industry hard, which thought itself (and us too) out of business.
Some have thus preferred to take their steps to avoid contaminating the teams, who have reunited with their families for the end of the year celebrations. At Disney for example, a one-week break was observed to allow everyone to get back to work with confidence. This is also the case at Amazon Prime, which postponed the recovery to January 10. It remains to be seen whether this will once again impact the offer of the various platforms and television channels. Some of them had been forced to shorten the seasons of their series, to better return later.
Discover Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video
