‘Tokyo Vice’ Halts Production Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Tokyo Vice, the upcoming HBO Max drama series starring Ansel Elgort, has joined the long list of shows that are halting production due to the coronavirus crisis.

“With the World Health Organization now labeling the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic and the United States and other countries declaring states of emergency and imposing additional travel restrictions, we understand that there is much uncertainty and anxiety,” HBO Max/WarnerMedia said in a statement Sunday.

“Given the advice of (and in many instances mandates or restrictions imposed by) federal, state and/or local health and safety authorities, and because we’re dealing with an unprecedented situation that is beyond our control, to ensure the health and safety of our cast, crew and the community around us, Endeavor Content and HBO Max have decided to pause production, effective immediately.”

Based on the book by Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice comes from Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers (Oslo), producer John Lesher and Endeavor Content.

Written by Rogers, based on Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat, Tokyo Vice is Jake’s (Elgort) daily descent into the neon soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing, and no one is truly what or who they seem. Elgort’s Jake Adelstein is an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption.

Rogers and director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) will helm the series along with Endeavor Content serving as the studio and John Lesher, Emily Gerson Saines and Ansel Elgort on board as executive producers.