Coronavirus Effect: Warner Bros Halt Fantastic Beasts 3, King Richard Productions

Fantastic Beasts 3 and King Richard are the latest titles from Warner Bros to put their productions on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic. Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts 3 will not start production in London on Monday, while work on tennis drama King Richard, which was filming in Los Angeles, is also being suspended, reported Deadline.

The studio is yet to announce when both the shoots will resume. Led by Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander, the yet-to-be-titled third chapter in Fantastic Beasts franchise will be released in 2021.

While King Richard is a biopic on tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard Williams, who guided his prodigal tennis playing daughters from the Compton courts to preeminence in the sport. The film is slated for a pre-Thanksgiving release on November 25. Another Warner Bros feature The Matrix 4 has not been put on hold as of yet.

On Sunday, the studio shut down production on The Batman, featuring Robert Pattinson, for two weeks over the COVID-19 outbreak.

The deadly virus, which originated in China, has claimed over 6,500 lives and infected more than 169,000 people over 135 countries and territories.