‘The Crown’ to Pause Filming Following Queen Elizabeth II’s Death ‘Out of Respect’
“The Crown” is being put on hold after the sudden death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The history-making monarch, who died September 8 at age 96, is at the center of the Netflix series’ dramatization of her life, legacy, and career as the Queen of England. “The Crown” creator Peter Morgan released a statement following the queen’s passing.
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“‘The Crown’ is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect,” Morgan wrote, via Deadline. “I expect we will stop filming out of respect too.”
Upcoming Season 5 for “The Crown” is expected to premiere on Netflix this November. Over the course of the series, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton have portrayed the late ruler. “The Crown” Season 5 marks Staunton’s first turn as the monarch, with fellow new cast members Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Jonny Lee Miller, Dominic West, and Elizabeth Debicki joining the ensemble.
The Emmy-winning series endured a hiccup during production earlier this year, with £150,000, or $201,000, worth of props taken, ranging from a replica of a Fabergé coach egg, jewelry, and antiques.
“The Crown” director Stephen Daldry previously stated that if the series was in production during the death of the queen, it would cease filming.
“None of us know when that time will come but it would be right and proper to show respect to the Queen,” Daldry told Deadline in 2016. “It would be a simple tribute and a mark of respect. She’s a global figure and it’s what we should do. She’s an extraordinary woman and people will be upset.”
Series creator Morgan, who also penned Oscar-winning “The Queen” with Helen Mirren in the lead role, told IndieWire in 2020 that Queen Elizabeth II is a “mother to the nation.”
“We don’t want a head of state to be a troubled figure. We want someone parental and reassuring,” Morgan said. “She hasn’t put a foot wrong with her constancy, when we’ve had a shockingly turbulent time. When it has felt impossible to have any confidence in our political class during our schizophrenic war over Brexit, the country has felt rudderless and unhinged. It has been unsettling for everybody psychologically and emotionally.”
Morgan concluded about the queen, “She’s a constant, not just in your life, but there’s not anyone alive in the U.K. who hasn’t had her as head of state the entirety of their life. She ties the generations together.”
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