Why The Crown Refuses to Shut Down Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

Some folks would likely state that filming at this time is highly irresponsible of any studio and could put the people that it’s responsible for at further risk of contracting the coronavirus and possibly needing to be hospitalized if they have underlying health concerns. But the production of the Netflix series The Crown is still pushing forward to finish out the last week or so of filming as Abbey White of Looper has reported, if only because they are so close to finishing that they don’t want to go on hiatus with any loose ends. From a very practical standpoint that makes a lot of sense considering that being so close to finished makes it simply too tempting to not go forward with the conclusion of filming, but again many people are likely to call out the decision for appearing to be a little too risky for those involved. With so many other productions shutting down for the time being, at least for the mandatory two weeks that has been handed down throughout the nation, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would go ahead and ignore the warnings and continue on as normal. It could be that someone is just incredibly stubborn and doesn’t want to give into the fear and paranoia that’s been spread along with the virus, but it’s more likely that the reasoning is sound when discussing the fact that the studio would rather finish up and then go on hiatus instead of leaving something that could be easily concluded still on the docket.

This is definitely a stressful time as many people are starting to wonder if it’s going to end soon or if we have more and more of the current status quo to go before we see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel. The saddest part is that things haven’t been going on this way for that long and people are already losing a great deal of hope and speaking of hard times yet to come. In the entertainment industry there are bound to be hard times since those that were able to broker million-dollar contracts, or greater, will be just fine and won’t suffer the pinch of not being able to back to work for a while. Those that work on said shows however, who aren’t paid millions for their mere presence, are bound to be feeling the pinch already as many studios have been sticking to the idea of shutting down for the moment with the understanding, and hope, being that they will start up again in a couple of weeks. Will Thorne and Kate Aurthur of Variety have a list of movies and shows that have been feeling the strain of having to shut down for the time being.  One might want to think that it could happen that a vaccine will be coming in that time, but with the current and daily reports that offer only more problems and little in the way of hope it’s hard to say whether or not such a thing will happen.

Let’s be fair and even a bit honest, in the grand scheme of human survival, entertainment is not a top priority. For those that work in the industry, no matter what level they’re at or what they do, none of those that seek to entertain the masses are irreplaceable. That alone is one reason why Hollywood might be seen in a different light at this point. The Crown is just one show among many, but the decision to at least try to finish production is one that some people will approve of and others will ridicule. To be realistic that sounds like business as usual since critics are going to spring up in any given situation, and in this case it was only a matter of seconds after the decision had been made and broadcast before people were weighing in with their own comments. At this point though the decision has been made and there’s nothing to say that the studio will go back on it unless there’s something that those reporting on it don’t know that their readers do. The filming will finish and the show will go on hiatus just as every other show has been doing. Thankfully Netflix has plenty of content to ride out a time like this, though if people tend to binge every minute of the day they’re liable to make at least a dent in how much they’ve seen and how much is left. Seriously, that’s how much content is on Netflix these days. Take it from someone that’s old enough to remember when they were primarily a DVD by mail company.

So at the very least The Crown isn’t stopping in the midst of filming, but then it was closer to finishing than many other shows that just started production or are in mid-stream. At this point anything that’s nearly done is worth finishing despite the risk, as preventative measures can still be utilized.