'American Horror Story' Season 10 Had To Halt Production Due To COVID-19 Exposure
In true meta fashion, American Horror Story season 10 has encountered a horror story of its own and had to halt production as a result. COVID-19 seems to be back with a vengeance leading the cast and crew to take all precautions necessary to stay safe.
Variety announced that, due to a positive COVID-19 case and potential exposure to the illness, production on American Horror Story: Double Feature will be temporarily shut down. The positive case was detected in what's been termed "Zone A" in COVID-production protocol, which means "any perimeter within which activity occurs without physical distancing or the use of PPE". The case originated from an actor on the show but identity details have not been disclosed.
The Story So Far
Ryan Murphy's tenth season of AHS was originally meant to premiere in the fall of 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Instead, filming began in December and the production has not experienced any shutdowns or issues until now. The suspension will most likely (and hopefully) only last until the end of the week. LA County has been under close watch in recent weeks with the rising COVID cases which seem to be a result of the more contagious Delta variant. Last week, The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health initiated a new indoor mask mandate "regardless of vaccination status" and is encouraging citizens to get vaccinated as soon as possible to stop the spread of COVID. On Monday, a new agreement between the studios and the union announced that producers can mandate that those in Zone A must be vaccinated.American Horror Story: Double Feature is still slated to premiere on August 25 on FX. The season is divided into two parts with two separate stories and mostly different casts. They are currently filming Part 2. The cast is stacked with old AHS favorites and fresh blood that piqued audience interest immediately. For example, newcomers Macaulay Culkin, Neal McDonough, and Kaia Gerber are all on board for the tenth season.
Sick Of It All
This pandemic is terrible and we are all sick of it. Just when you think things are getting better or seemingly back to normal, there's a new issue to worry about and this time it is the Delta variant. But safety is still paramount. Also, this production halt isn't isolated to the American Horror Story season 10 crew — we've seen this song and dance before.
Beloved period drama Bridgerton season 2 had to shut down their production indefinitely due to a cast member testing positive for COVID-19. Other productions currently on hiatus include Matilda and House of the Dragon. One of the most memorable on-set COVID stories came out last December when Tom Cruise went off on the crew for lack of safety protocol. Despite his best efforts, production recently shut down on Mission: Impossible 7. Even the lovable daredevils of Jackass Forever experienced their own filing issues with the pandemic. Despite some of them currently approaching their 50s, the crew had to focus their stunts and pranks on one another instead of the public.
Hopefully, with all of these new implementations, things start to look up again soon and those cast members affected will recover safely.