How Dwayne Johnson's COVID-19 Case Affected Filming on Netflix's Red Notice

As we learned last week, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his entire family tested positive for COVID-19. Though the entertainer confirmed he was on the other side of having contracted the virus, it did potentially put a wrinkle in some of his plans as he's set to resume filming on his new Netflix film Red Notice. Speaking in a new interview, Johnson's producing partner Hiram Garcia opened up about how The Rock's diagnosis affected the start of production and how Netflix is working with helping them keep things going. Should they be able to keep cameras rolling once they resume production next week, they'll be finished in before the year ends.

"We start filming on September 14," Garcia told Variety. "It's been an incredible process and undertaking to get a production up-and-running. Netflix has had the attitude that whatever it will take to keep things safe for the crew, they are 100% behind. We had finished half the movie and then the pandemic hit, so we re-adjusted what we needed to, so that we could finish everything on stages and wrap up the movie. We should be done, fingers crossed, probably somewhere around the end of November."

Garcia also spoke about the safety protocols in place, adding: "The entire approach is different and unique, but everything from testing every day to temperatures being checked. We have a pod system, we have zones — yellow, red, green, depending on who can go where — we only have limited people on sets. There are giant manuals with hundreds and hundreds of pages of these new protocols, and we've worked really closely with Netflix and amazing epidemiologists and doctors to come up with this plan that feels super sound. We're all very confident in it."

The long time associate of The Rock also spoke about his original reaction to learning that Johnson had contracted the virus. Having been working with Johnson for two decades at this point, Garcia said they handled it the same way they handle any other situation.

"I think we're all so weather-tested at this point we just looked at the situation and got all the information and knew that we would adjust accordingly," Garcia said. "If there has ever been a time where productions are super light on their feet and ready to pivot and adjust, it's now. Everyone's main concern was just that he and his family were safe, and once we knew that they were safe, the rest would work itself out."

Johnson will co-star in the film with Deadpool's Ryan Reynolds and Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot. The film's title refers to a notice issued by Interpol that lists persons who are wanted for extradition. Johnson has previously described the film as "in the world of international crime, an Interpol issued red notice is a global alert to hunt down and capture the world's most wanted. The world's greatest art thief. The world's greatest tracker. The world's greatest conman." A release date has not been confirmed by Netflix