Production for “Bridgerton’s” Season 2has been put on hold for a second time in a week after another crew member tested positive for Covid-19.
According to Deadline, Netflix has paused production for an indefinite period of time while producers at Shondaland establish a timetable for a safe return amid the Delta variant of coronavirus surging across the UK.
“Bridgerton” was released on the streaming platform on Christmas Day release in 2020, where a whopping record 82 million households watched the show in just one month.
The show is Netflix’s most-viewed series ever and nabbed 12 Emmy nominations this week, including Outstanding Drama Series, Best Actor in a Drama Series for Regé-Jean Page and Julie Andrews for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.
“There’s this misconception out there that romance novels are trashy or disposable or that they can’t be smartly written and that’s certainly not what I have found,” creator Chris Van Dusen told EW after the nominations were announced. “It certainly wasn’t true for the Bridgerton books. So, I hope this is a bit of a repudiation of that.”
Page will not be returning for the second season. But the upcoming season will instead focus on Daphne’s older brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), as did “The Viscount Who Loved Me,” the second book in Julia Quinn’s series on which the show is based.
Netflix also announced that a new “Bridgerton” spinoff centering on the adventures of a young Queen Charlotte had been ordered to series.
“As we continue to expand the world of Bridgerton, we now have the opportunity to devote even more of the Shondaland fold to the Bridgerton-verse,” said CEO of Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes, in a statement.
“We’ve worked with Jess Brownell for over a decade and have long wanted to find the right project to place in her hands. When it came time to pass the baton, I knew this unique voice was vital to the future of the show.” Betsy Beers added, “Chris has been part of the Shondaland team for his entire entertainment career, and Shonda and I are very proud of all he contributed to help create this series for fans around the globe.”
