Netflix Western ‘The Harder They Fall’ Stops Production Following Positive COVID Test

Anthony D'Alessandro
·1 min read

Deadline has confirmed that the New Mexico shoot of Netflix’s Idris Elba-Regina King western The Harder They Fall has stopped after an actor tested positive for COVID-19. Production stopped Thursday, continued into Friday and it’s unclear when filming will resume. Production has been occurring for about five weeks.

Note this isn’t uncommon for TV and movie productions to unfortunately encounter COVID cases. This has forced some to pause, while others can continue shooting. Many productions have enforced a pod system keeping actors, directors, and primary on-set workers separate from other units and video village. Recently, Jurassic World: Dominion‘s first unit had to shutdown due to a positive COVID-19 cases, but second unit remains at work.

Elba was one of the first stars to publicly say he had come down with COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic, along with his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba. The Harder They Fall stopped production back in mid-March like many other film shoots taking safety during the start of the pandemic.

The Harder They Fall follows an outlaw who discovers that the man who killed his parents has been released from prison. He forms a posse to help him as he seeks revenge. Jeymes Samuel directs from a script by Boaz Yakin. Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, and Delroy Lindo also star.

Netflix reps were unavailable for comment.

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