Movie sex scenes will be replaced with CGI wizardry to cut coronavirus risk

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in 2015’s “Fifty Shades of Grey,” in a scene which would possibly have relied on CGI if shot in the time of coronavirus.
©Focus Features/Courtesy Everet

As Hollywood prepares to reopen following its coronavirus-induced closure in March, on-set sexual distancing protocols are beginning to be laid out — including animated mating.

The film editors’ trade association has released a 22-page file dictating how “close contact moments” should be “either rewritten, abandoned” or replaced with CGI fixes to minimize spreading COVID-19 while filming, the Sun reports.

As well, all backstage crew will now be expected to wear masks and visors, live audiences remain on pause indefinitely, and actors will be given formal hand washing lessons. Holding auditions behind plexiglass, having “coronavirus compliance officers,” present, keeping unruly children away from sets and limiting the number of people who handle on-set animals are also touted in the document as good tactics for preventing any spread of the disease.

The paper, which was presented to the governors of New York and California this month as evidence that Hollywood is ready to reopen, stops short of vowing to put intimate scenes and fight scenes on hold while acknowledging they have a higher risk of transmission. “Whenever possible, performers shall practice physical distancing,” the report assures.

Hollywood studios quietly began turning to tech back in April, utilizing virtual reality to create digital sets that could be made from home, while staff remained quarantined.

“It can get you into production quickly,” says Kim Libreri, chief technology officer at Epic Games of utilizing certain technology more frequently used by the video game industry.

Tinseltown is also considering implementing tactics long-utilized in the world of the porn, including rigorous testing and a database that lists who is clean and available for work.

“The challenges for sports, for Hollywood and the porn industry are all different but in reality, we each have things we can learn from each other,” says Mike Stabile, rep for the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the US adult entertainment industry. “This is obviously a different type of virus, this is a different type of threat, but we understood in general how it would work and what we’d need to do in order to protect ourselves.”