The Omicron Has Arrived, and Hollywood Is Finally Listening

The premiere of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” a superhero adventure largely predicted to set a new COVID-era opening weekend record, was held at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Fans, journalists, and social media influencers crowded the red carpet outside Westwood’s Regency Village theatre, where industry insiders and A-listers gathered after producing confirmation of complete immunisation and a negative PCR test to witness Tom Holland and Zendaya rescue the world. Many individuals in the audience were yelling and revealing their identities.

Days later, news spread that a key agent from one of the big talent agencies had tested positive for COVID-19 after attending both the premiere and Holland’s more exclusive after party off Sunset, which drew roughly 75 people. Holland’s team was in charge of spreading the word about the pandemic. The possibility of contracting the extremely infectious virus and its most recent form, Omicron, demonstrates how quickly the public health situation in the United States has deteriorated in recent days. The entertainment industry’s precarious recovery attempts have been jeopardised by a sudden change of events.

In recent months, Hollywood’s social life has nearly returned, with cocktail parties for Oscar voters, flashy film premieres, and power lunches five days a week. However, when one agency or studio after another discovers breakthrough cases of COVID inside its ranks, things are swiftly changing.

For the time being, firms are proceeding with plans to attend Sundance, which resumes in-person festivities on Jan. 20 in Park City, Utah, after turning virtual in 2021. However, they are considering limiting the number of personnel they deploy, acknowledging privately that many stars may not feel secure trekking up the mountain in the midst of a COVID outbreak