The newest DC Comics TV show is having difficulties finishing the show. According to Deadline, The Penguin hasn’t been able to wrap production due to WGA picketing. Over the last week, picketing has interrupted filming for multiple days in both the on-site filming location in Harlem and the set at Silvercup North. The production managed to film some smaller scenes in Brooklyn on Friday but there is no word on whether or not the show managed to continue filming in other locations.
According to Deadline, the members of the WGA East got to the filming location in Westchester, NY early and started picketing. Filming was halted when Teamsters and local guilds refused to cross the picket line. Due to this, filming on The Batman spinoff show was shut down for the day. The Penguin is one of the last Max series to halt production alongside J.J. Abrams’ (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek) Duster.
The limited drama will consist of eight episodes and will continue the crime saga set by Matt Reeves (Felicity, Cloverfield) in The Batman. The show will center around The Penguin, the character Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin, Thirteen Lives) played in The Batman.
The cast of the show also includes Cristin Milioti (The Resort, Made for Love) who will play Sofia Falcone; Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, SpongeBob SquarePants) as Salvatore Maroni; Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse, The Cuban), Michael Kelly (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, House of Cards), Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range, The Requin), Michael Zegen (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Boardwalk Empire), James Madio (Band of Brothers, The Offer), Scott Cohen (The Fix, East New York), Theo Rossi (Luke Cage, Sons of Anarchy), and Rhenzy Feliz (Runaways, Encanto) will be playing unknown characters from Gotham City.
The series’ executive producers include Reeves, Dylan Clark (The Wilds, The Mayor), Farrell, and Bill Carraro (Dexter: New Blood, Lovecraft Country). Lauren LeFranc (Hemlock Grove, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) serves as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner for the show. Craig Zobel (Mare of Easttown, The Hunt) will direct the first three episodes alongside executive production.
The Penguin will follow Oswald Cobblepot, played by Farrell, as he transforms from a disfigured regular citizen of Gotham City into one of the most noted Gotham gangsters and Batman villains.
DC Studios and HBO Max are keeping details of the show under wraps at the moment and no news regarding the release date of The Penguin has been released. In the meantime, The Batman starring Robert Pattinson (Twilight Saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is available to stream on HBO Max.