Film director Paul Schrader angered by coronavirus film shutdown, says he’d rather ‘die on the job’

‘Myself, I would have shot through hellfire rain to complete the film’

Film director Paul Schrader has criticised the producers of his current film The Card Counter after the shoot was shut down due to one of the cast members contracting coronavirus.

In a post on Facebook, the First Reformed director said his producers had stopped the production five days before it was due to finish “because an LA day player had the coronavirus”.

He added: “Myself, I would have shot through hellfire rain to complete the film. I’m old and asthmatic, what better way to die than on the job?”

Schrader wrote the script for The Card Counter. Tiffany Haddish and Willem Dafoe star alongside Oscar Isaac who plays William Tell, a professional gambler working the casino circuit. During his travels, Tell meets an angry kid (Tye Sheridan) who’s out for revenge and takes him under his wing.

The Card Counter had been filming in Biloxi, Mississippi. The actor concerned is not one of the principal cast.

The coronavirus has delayed and cancelled a number of films due to be released. The UK release of controversial Second World War drama The Painted Bird has been delayed. Disney has announced it has postponed the releases of Mulan, The New Mutants and horror film Antlers.

Meanwhile, John Krasinski announced he was postponing Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place II in the wake of the pandemic – just one week before his sequel was due to be released.