Don't Worry Darling Production Paused After Crew Member Tests Positive For COVID-19

Back in September, Harry Styles fans – who have waited since 2017's Dunkirk to be able to see him back up on the big screen – got some news to rejoice about while he joined Olivia Wilde's latest directorial effort, a period piece called Don't Worry Darling. Brought in to replace Shia LaBeouf, Styles will star alongside Florence Pugh and Chris Pine in the 1950s-set film, which reportedly takes place in a California desert utopian community. Sounds great!


Production on the film had begun recently, however Deadline reported on November 4 that everything had to be shut off while filming in Los Angeles right after a crew member tested positive for COVID-19 throughout routine testing. As a result, per protocol, the film will stop production for 14 days while the folks involved can isolate.


the scenario with Don't Worry Darling recalls a similar scenario on the set of The Batman in September, which likewise had to be shut down immediately after title star Robert Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19. Pattinson had to isolate for 14 days, though production resumed rapidly, with director Matt Reeves reportedly decided to accomplish as much of the film as he might without its star.


Don't Worry Darling is Wilde's directorial follow-up to 2019's Booksmart and again carries a script co-penned by her writing parter Katie Silberman. Wilde will also appear in the film, which also stars KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, Gemma Chan, Kate Berlant, and others. Earlier this month, Layne wrote on Instagram about how meaningful it was to get cast in the film while in per year of such turmoil and uncertainty.


"Honestly, I had given up on believing that I would work on anything this year. Because soon considering that all of the no's and cancellations and postponements and just all around craziness of this year, I mentioned forget it, I just won't be on a set again up until sometime in 2021," she wrote. However I heard a whisper from God recently as well as a little reluctantly I began praying again that I would get to work this year. I began fighting for the faith that I had had any time If I came into this year to be renewed. And as I began praying and fighting to believe again, along comes this project."


Wilde, meanwhile, told MTV News in 2019 that she proposed to keep creating in new ways soon after Booksmart: "I pay attention. I read a lot. I find myself exploring every sort of corner of storytelling. I attempt to never let myself be boxed in."