The U.S. cast and crew of Halo and Dune are being offered exemptions by Hungary from the travel ban imposed by the European Union. The move clears the way for production on those projects to resume after they were halted due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Now that the state of emergency has ended, restrictive measures have been eased and the travel restrictions are continually being lifted; special exemption can be granted for non-EU residents to enter Hungary without mandatory quarantine, international projects are being prepared, making it possible to restart production at full capacity," Hungarian government film commissioner Csaba Káel told Variety.
Legendary Pictures' Dune began filming in March 2019 and wrapped in July, but additional footage was scheduled to be shot later this year at the Origo Film Studio in Hungary. Filming for Showtime's television adaptation of the popular video game series Halo began in December, with production set to resume at Korda Studio. Both of those studios are near Budapest, Hungary's capital.
Denis Villeneuve's Dune is based on the first half of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel of the same name, and a second film based on the latter half is set to follow. Its ensemble cast features Zendaya, who shared a photo of herself as the character Chani earlier this year, Josh Brolin, Jason Mamoa, Rebecca Ferguson, and Timothée Chalamet as protagonist Paul Atreides. Kyle Killen is acting as showrunner of Halo, and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment is producing the series.
Hungary has a vested economic interest in resuming production at full capacity. The country saw an increase of about 50% in film spending last year, with spending on film production totaling $565.6 million. About 94% of that came directly from international productions.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script he co-wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, Legendary Pictures' Dune stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stephen Henderson and Josh Brolin. The film arrives in theaters Dec. 18.
Halo will release in early 2021. The show stars Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Natasha Culzac and Shabana Azmi.