Deadpool 2 filming resumes after fatal crash
The cameras are rolling again on the Vancouver production of Deadpool 2, two days after the motorcycle death of stuntwoman Joi “S.J.” Harris.
Deadpool 2 star Ryan Reynolds and director David Leitch led a moment of silence on the film’s set Wednesday to honour Harris, who was killed in a crash during production on Monday.
Harris, a 40-year-old professional motorcycle racer from New York, was performing a stunt near Canada Place when she lost control of her bike, which hit a curb, throwing her head first into a glass window at Shaw Tower.
Harris was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. The B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC are investigating.
It was reportedly her first film as a stunt driver and she was not wearing a helmet, as per directions.
Harris was doubling for actress Zazie Beetz who plays the mutant mercenary Domino in the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster based on the Marvel comic book.
Production on the 20th Century Fox film, which was halted for two days after her death, was underway again on Wednesday as the crew, including Reynolds, were shooting a scene under the Granville Street Bridge.
The lot beneath the bridge has been made to look like a used car dealership, complete with a giant inflatable panda that is reportedly to be used in an elaborate stunt.
The original Deadpool, which was also filmed in Vancouver, earned $780 million in 2016 on a $58-million budget and become the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.
Deadpool 2 is scheduled for a June 2018 release.
Stunt-related deaths are rare in the film industry, but do happen.
In 1998, local stuntman Marc Akerstream was killed when he was struck in the head by a piece of flying debris while observing an explosion on the Squamish set of the TV show The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.
Two years earlier in Squamish, 32-year-old Vancouver stuntman Keith Perepelkin died on the set of the movie Firestorm, after his parachute failed to open during a jump from a helicopter.
Last month in Atlanta, stuntman John Bernecker died on the set of The Walking Dead after he fell headfirst onto concrete instead of on padding meant to cushion his roughly seven-metre fall from a balcony. His death was believed to be the first stunt-related fatality on U.S. soil in 20 years.