Zendaya and John David Washington secretly filmed a movie in quarantine

As TV and film productions begin to slowly open up following the global shut down of the entertainment industry, one small group of Hollywood stars have managed to not only start a movie while in quarantine, but also complete filming. Reuniting with her Euphoria director Sam Levinson, Zendaya along with Golden Globe-nominee John David Washington managed to shoot the new film Malcolm & Marie in just over two weeks all while following new safety measures put in place by the filming industry.Deadline is reporting that filming took place between June 17 and July 2 at the stunning Caterpillar House in Carmel, California. Little is known about the premise of the film, but Deadline says that it is rumoured to be similar to Noah Baumbach’s 2019 drama Marriage Story with an added focus on the ongoing global pandemic and the stress isolation has placed on couples. TL;DR, get ready for Zendaya and Washington to make you cry and feel seen.Zendaya shared the first picture from the film on Wednesday, simply captioning the black and white still Malcolm & Marie. The two actors are definitely not practicing social distancing in the stunning new image, but it appears that the filmmakers took every possible precaution during filming to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. Also, that chemistry! We are here for it.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Malcolm & Marie

A post shared by Zendaya (@zendaya) on Jul 8, 2020 at 4:03pm PDT

The idea for the film came about after Zendaya contacted Levinson in March following the news that filming the second season of their critically acclaimed 2019 drama Euphoria would be delayed. Levinson reportedly wrote the script for Malcolm & Marie in only six days and funded the film along with Zendaya, Washington and producer Kevin Turen. Kid Cudi also helped finance and produce the film.Deadline has listed the extensive measures Levinson and his team, including his wife and production partner Ashley Levinson (Bombshell, Queen & Slim) put into place. The actors and crew were quarantined before and during filming and tested regularly. No one could leave the set and PPE and social distancing practices were always used. The actors and crew isolated in their own hotel rooms, food was served by the same caterer on disposable dishes, filming days were organized around a strict cleaning schedule and the number of people on set at any given time was limited. Many crew members took on multiple jobs to keep the number of people involved in the project to a minimum. The actors were required to dress and mic themselves and camera operators used long lenses whenever possible.The guidelines are similar in scope to those put in place for Jurassic World: Dominion, which is set to resume filming in the UK this month. These precautions will likely be the new normal as TV and film productions begin to slowly reopen. Although they help to ensure the safety of the cast and crew, they also require more money and, in some cases, fewer crew members, which is difficult news for an industry that has already been severely impacted by COVID-19.Levinson and co. have yet to announced when Malcolm & Marie will be released or whether it will be available in theatres or streaming. Considering the incredible speed at which the movie was written and filmed, we may even see it before Washington’s highly anticipated and chronically delayed Christopher Nolan film Tenet, which has just been pushed back…again…to August.[video_embed id='1991285']BEFORE YOU GO: Tom Hanks has a blunt message for people who don't wear a mask[/video_embed]