Netflix halts filming on Idris Elba Western The Harder They Fall after positive COVID-19 test

The streamer has paused production on the Western, which features a stacked cast including Idris Elba, Regina King, and Jonathan Majors, after a member of the production team tested positive for COVID-19. Shooting was halted Thursday night and remained shut down on Friday, but is expected to resume next week.

None of the principal cast, which also includes Atlanta‘s Zazie Beetz, Sorry to Bother You‘s Lakeith Stanfield, and Da 5 Bloods‘ Delroy Lindo, tested positive.

Elba was one of the first celebrities to announce he had tested positive for the coronavirus back in March. At the time, the actor was sheltering in place in New Mexico while production on The Harder They Fall was halted due to the pandemic. The film, which has since begun shooting in the state, follows an outlaw named Nat Love (Majors), who discovers the man (Elba) who killed his parents decades prior will be released from prison. Love proceeds to reassemble his old gang for a mission of vengeance.

© Mike Marsland/WireImage Netflix has paused filming on the upcoming Idris Elba Western ‘The Harder They Fall’ after a member of the production tested positive for COVID-19.While film and TV production has begun to pick back up in recent weeks, numerous projects have seen cast and crew test positive for COVID-19, necessitating production pauses. These projects include The Batman, which went on a two-week hiatus after star Robert Pattinson contracted the virus, and Netflix’s own original series Maid, which was forced to halt production in Vancouver due to delays in receiving COVID test results.

No release date for The Harder They Fall has yet been announced.