Shooting of Mammootty's 'The Priest' cancelled after Coronavirus scare

The shooting of much anticipated Mammootty-starrer The Priest has been called off. The shooting of the movie, which has been progressing in Kochi for the past few weeks, is now canceled due to the coronavirus scare.

The sources close to the project suggest that the team will only resume the shooting after the virus outbreak comes under control.

It is said that the shooting will resume once again only after March 31. The Priest, was initially slated to hit screens by May 2020 but with shoot getting delayed, looks like it will take time and will be an Eid release.

The Priest, touted to be an out-and-out thriller is the directorial debut of Jofin T Chacko. He was the former assistant of filmmaker Jis Joy. The film marks the first time association of actress Manju Warrier with Mammootty, who will be seen playing the role of a priest in his 4-decades-long acting career. The project is scripted by Deepu Pradeep and Shyam Menon.

The Priest is jointly produced by Anto Joseph, filmmaker B Unnikrishnan, and VN Babu, under the banners Anto Joseph Film Company and RD Illuminations.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the government had asked theater owners to stop screening movies and as a preventive measure the producers and distributors decided to shut shown theaters till March 31.