The House of the Dragon set has been shut down because of positive cases of Covid-19. Production of the HBO show, a prequel of the much-loved fantasy series Game of Thrones, has been paused for two days.
The show is currently being shot in the UK, and production will resume on Wednesday.
Industry publication Deadline reported that the shoot has been paused for two days "after a positive case in zone A, which includes cast and crew."
House of the Dragon is set to centre on House Targaryen, and is based on George RR Martin’s book Fire & Blood. According to HBO, the series will "tell the story of House Targaryen (the house that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones."
The show stars Paddy Considine (The Outsider), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), Emma D'Arcy (Truth Seekers), Matt Smith (The Crown, Doctor Who), Steve Toussaint (It’s a Sin, Doctor Who), Eve Best (Nurse Jackie, The King’s Speech), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina, Crazy Rich Asians).
Covid-19 pausing TV production
House of the Dragon is not the first high-profile production to be halted because of Covid-19. This week, filming on the Bridgerton set was paused "indefinitely", following two positive cases of the coronavirus on set.
Like House of the Dragon, the Netflix period drama is currently filming in the UK. The country is currently experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases, owing to the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Deadline confirmed the hiatus, but Netflix has declined to comment further and chose not to confirm if it is a cast or crew member who contracted the virus. However, every individual on set is now isolating and the industry publication reports "the indefinite length of the hiatus will lead to speculation that it could be an actor."
Last Thursday, production was initially halted for 24 hours as a member of the crew tested positive. The cast and crew were then tested and filming resumed on Friday. However, the second positive case has led to an indefinite halt. Producers are now creating a timetable for filming to resume, it has been reported.
