The Rock's Red Notice to resume filming in Georgia, despite Covid

Major Hollywood project, Red Notice, starring The Rock, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, is among several projects set to resume filming in the US state of Georgia, despite the rise in Covid cases.

Red Notice was in the middle of production when it shut down in March due to the virus. However, Johnson has now confirmed: “I’m happy to announce our Red Notice production will resume shooting next month in mid-September.

“Thank you to our tremendous partners at Netflix who’ve joined us shoulder to shoulder to provide the safest and most aggressive quarantined bubble for our production crew as possible. I’m confident in our safety strategy and execution, but we’ll also be fluid and amenable to best practice changes on the fly.”

Netflix’s Ozark is also due to start filming its fourth and final season in Georgia, while AMC will begin production on the eleventh series of its zombie drama, The Walking Dead, in October.

However, during an earnings call, AMC CEO Josh Sapan said that the company would continue to monitor and adjust plans as needed, dependent on the situation with the pandemic.

Georgia governor Brian Kemp said in June that about 75 production projects are expected to film in the state over the next 18 months, bringing back and hiring an estimated 40,000 production workers, and investing over $2bn into the Georgia economy.

Kemp has also approved changes to the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Incentive Act that require mandatory audits by productions before applying for the 30% tax credit the state’s offered since 2008. Regulators are codifying a set of rules aimed at making the process clearer and quicker, compiling a list of approved auditors and tweaking the timing of when tax credits can be transferred. 

Other projects due to shoot in the state in the coming months include National Geographic’s Genuis: Aretha about Aretha Franklin; The Conjuring 3; Anchor Point; Dear Evan Hansen; Disney+‘s Loki and miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which had largely wrapped in March, but will return for a few more scenes.