'Jurassic World: Dominion' halts production after positive coronavirus tests

The roar of this dinosaur has been quietened as production of the new 'Jurassic World' film is temporarily stopped. Photos: UIP Malaysia

Jurassic World: Dominion had to temporarily suspend filming after people on set tested positive for coronavirus, director Colin Trevorrow announced.

"Woke up to the news we had a few positive coronavirus tests on Jurassic World: Dominion. All tested negative shortly after, but due to our safety protocols we're going to pause for two weeks. Back soon," Trevorrow said.

"Late last night, we were informed that the Jurassic World: Dominion production experienced a small amount of positive tests for Covid-19," a spokesperson for Universal said in a statement.

"Even though subsequent tests proved negative this morning, due to our rigid protocols and to ensure that the safety and well-being of our entire cast and crew is paramount at all times, those who initially tested positive are currently self-isolating, as are those who they have come into contact with.

"As a result, filming has been temporarily paused and will resume in accordance with established safety guidelines."

A 2015 filepic of Chris Pratt in Beijing, China for Jurassic World. He resumes the role in the third instalment of the franchise.

The news comes a day after Universal, the studio behind the blockbuster franchise, reported that Jurassic World: Dominion has pushed back its release date.

The upcoming instalment will now debut on June 10,2022 – a year later than planned. The movie was initially slated for summer 2021.

Jurassic World: Dominion, the sixth entry in the 27-year-old series, had just started rolling cameras in Britain when coronavirus started to spread across Europe in March.

After a months-long shutdown, it was one of the first high-profile movies to resume filming.

The studio implemented intense – and expensive – measures to ensure the production could stay coronavirus-free, including frequent testing and isolating the cast and crew in a hotel.

Dominion has about three more weeks of material to shoot.

The Jurassic property is not the first that was forced to pause production after restarting amid the global health crisis.

Days after The Batman commenced filming, the Warner Bros comic book adaptation had to temporarily shut down again because the Caped Crusader himself, Robert Pattinson, tested positive for coronavirus.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are reprising their roles in Jurassic World: Dominion. The ensemble cast also includes Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and BD Wong.

Trevorrow is returning behind the camera after previously directing 2015's Jurassic World. He also co-wrote the script for the 2018 sequel Fallen Kingdom.

Jurassic instalments are regularly among the highest-grossing movies of the year at the box office. Collectively, the five Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films have collected more than US$5bil (RM20.7bil) globally.

Jurassic World and its sequel Fallen Kingdom each grossed over US$1bil (RM4.14bil).