Will Hollywood go dark?

“They told us to pack our equipment and to leave ASAP”

- By Kelly Gilblom and Flavia Rotondi, with Christopher Palmeri

The crew fled so quickly after the Feb. 25 decision to delay filming of Mission: Impossible 7 that Paramount Pictures forgot to cancel the welcome party at the opulent Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice, Italy. The handful of straggling technical workers who showed up feasted with silver cutlery and exquisite china in a mostly abandoned banquet hall.

That kind of confusion—and needless spending—has been characteristic of Hollywood in the coronavirus era. On-location production work, often planned years in advance, has been rescheduled at great cost. After halting filming in Venice, Paramount said the Mission: Impossible shoot scheduled for Rome this month would also be delayed.