The upcoming Apple TV+ series Lady In The Lake was forced to halt production on Friday after the show’s producers received extortion threats from locals living in Baltimore, Maryland, according to the Baltimore Police Department via Deadline. The show had been filming in Baltimore for the past several months.
According to Deadline, Baltimore Police said the show’s crew had been filming around 4 PM on Friday when several people approached the show’s producers. The group of people then threatened the producers by saying they would shoot someone if they didn’t stop filming. They also told the producers there would be no violence if they were paid an unknown amount of money. The Baltimore Banner reported that the group of locals were drug dealers who attempted to extort $50,000 from the production, which the producers declined to pay.
Endeavor Content, the producers of Lady In The Lake, released a statement on the incident.
“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. We are working with the Baltimore Police Department as the investigation is ongoing,” the studio said, per Deadline.
“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. It has been a privilege filming Lady in the Lake in Baltimore, working with its vibrant community across many areas,” the statement 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.”
The upcoming series is based on the book of the same authored by Laura Lippman (What The Dead Know). Stars of the series include Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi). It is unclear when production will be finished or when Lady In The Lake will be released.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat