Bored Brits may be running out of films and TV series to watch during the coronavirus lockdown - but writers are drawing inspiration from the global pandemic.
Director Mostafa Keshvari already wrapped production on his film, Corona, 10-days before Covid-19 sent North America into lockdown, his film is expected to appear on streaming services in a matter of weeks.
'It's more about the xenophobia than it is about the virus. The film will help audiences to look at each other in a different way. I hope it will make us more united in a way,' the Persian-Canadian director told the BBC.
Filming for the movie wrapped on February 14 and could be on streaming services by the end of the month, Mr Keshvari said.
Writers in the US and the UK are both coming to terms with a world changing in the wake of the killer virus.
'Anyone who has been writing stories set in the now, their material is borderline redundant,' Stephen Garnett, the producer of Spooks and The Night Manager, told the Sunday Times.
The Sunday paper says a televsion adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand is going through last-minute changes to mention Covid-19. It also claims NBC's executives are considering a miniseries based in coronavirus hotspots in New York.
The Stand, which tells the story of a virus devastating the world's population, has already drawn parallels to the global pandemic.
The Shining writer said: 'It's not very comfortable to be me right now. I keep having people say, "Gee, it's like we're living in a Stephen King story,"' King told NPR.
'And my only response to that is, "I'm sorry."'
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Garnett suggested writers would need to be careful when weaving the killer pandemic into their stories.
He said: 'We now don't spend our lives talking about 9/11 or the economic crash.
'The great storytellers will find a way.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
