Henry Cavill’s COVID-19 Diagnosis Forces ‘Witcher’ Season 3 To Halt Production: Report

“The Witcher” Season 3 was about to shoot a big battle scene earlier this week when production was abruptly halted without prior notice, a report has claimed.

After enjoying a weekend break, the cast and crew of Netflix’s hit fantasy series were supposed to return to set Monday and film the show’s most ambitious sequence yet straight from the books — the Thanedd coup. But no filming happened, “The Witcher” fan website Redanian Intelligence reported.

For the scene, the vast majority of the entire cast, including lead star Henry Cavill, who stars as Geralt of Rivia, was supposed to take part. However, production was halted without warning, the report claimed.

On Tuesday, rumors started to swirl that Cavill allegedly tested positive for COVID-19. The site reached out to an unnamed insider, who confirmed to Redanian Intelligence that the actor indeed contracted the virus. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

Filming is expected to resume once the 39-year-old British actor has fully recovered. This means the shooting break will depend on how fast Cavill could recover.

Netflix and Cavill have not commented on the report. Since the show is one of the streamer’s biggest projects in the works, the reported delay is expected to cause a problem for the stars who are also busy with other projects and might not be available on the rescheduled dates.

It was not the first time for the show’s production to suspend filming activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Season 2 encountered some problems in its early 2020 production in London, forcing producers to delay its release to December 2021, according to Collider.

Season 3 is expected to adapt the story of the second book in “The Witcher Saga.” “The Time of Contempt” explores Geralt and Ciri’s relationship and what he is willing to do when different forces start to hunt the latter.

“The Witcher” was one of the most well-received offerings of Netflix when it debuted in 2019. Despite the setbacks and delays for its sequels, the demand for the series is so huge that the franchise already expanded its universe with spinoffs.

The animated feature that focused on Geralt’s memoir, Vesemir, titled “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf,” premiered on the streaming service in August 2021.

“The Witcher: Blood Origin,” a limited prequel series set 1,200 years before the main show, is also in development.