Letitia Wright is facing ongoing complications from her late-summer injury onset of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Now, her health concerns have caused the film’s shoot schedule to get pushed back.
The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reports that production is temporarily shutting down the week of Thanksgiving to give the actress more time to focus on her recovery.
Wright was injured in an accident involving a stunt rig while shooting action scenes on location in Boston in late August. The actress was hospitalized at the time of the incident, then later left for London for recovery. She has remained there while principal photography has continued in her absence.
Filming has been mostly on-location in Atlanta, restructured to film scenes and sequences for which Wright’s presence is not necessary. Sources say that director Ryan Coogler has now completed filming all scenes that can be done without her, so now filming must halt until she can return to the set.
Production will reportedly take a hiatus to re-tool the shooting schedule, with a tentative return date set for early 2022.
This is just one of the difficulties Wright has faced while filming the highly-anticipated sequel to the beloved Marvel classic. Just last month, rumors swirled that Wright, who built a reputation as a perceived anti-vaxxer after reposting a controversial video promoting vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories in late 2020, was on set espousing similar anti-vax views to coworkers.
Wright vehemently denied this claim as false.
“Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows that I work incredibly hard at my craft, and my main focus is always to do work that’s impactful and inspiring,” she wrote in an Instagram post asserting that the rumors are untrue. “That has been & will continue to be my only focus.”
Alongside several other upcoming Marvel releases, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was pushed back from its original release date last month. The film has been shifted from July 8, 2022, to Nov. 11, 2022. As of this announcement, the movie’s newest release date is said to not be affected by its altered shooting schedule.