Apple TV+‘s upcoming Natalie Portman-starring drama Lady in the Lake was forced to pause production on Friday, August 26, after several people threatened the producers with extortion as the series filmed in Baltimore, Maryland.
As reported by Deadline, the Baltimore Police Department said that the crew was shooting in the downtown area at around 4 pm when several people approached the producers and told them to stop filming. The group allegedly demanded $50,000 from the production for them to continue — if producers didn’t pay the money or stop filming, the group said they would return and shoot someone.
“Friday afternoon, on the Baltimore set of our production Lady in the Lake, prior to the arrival of the cast and crew, per their call time, a driver on our production crew was confronted by two men, one of whom brandished a gun directed at our driver, and then they fled the location,” Endeavor Content, the studio behind the series, said in a statement to Deadline.
“We are working with the Baltimore Police Department as the investigation is ongoing. The safety and security of our crew, cast, and all who work across our productions is our highest priority, and we are thankful no one was injured. Production will resume with increased security measures going forward.”
Based on Laura Lippman’s novel and created and directed by Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), Lady in the Lake is set in 1960s Baltimore and centers on Maddie Schwartz (Portman), a housewife who reinvents herself as an investigative journalist after an unsolved murder. This new career path puts her on a collision course with Moses Ingram’s Cleo Sherwood.
“It has been a privilege filming Lady in the Lake in Baltimore, working with its vibrant community across many areas,” the statement from Endeavor continued. “Our thanks and appreciation to the City of Baltimore, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the Baltimore Film Office, Maryland Film Office and the Baltimore Police Department for their incredible support as we continue production in the great City of Baltimore and surrounding communities.”
Lady in the Lake, TBA, Apple TV+
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