UPDATED STORY (06/18/2022):
Production has been temporarily suspended on Netflix‘s The Chosen One following a car crash in Mexico that left two actors, Raymundo Garduño Cruz and Juan Francisco González Aguilar, dead and six more cast or crew members injured.
The injured cast members are in stable condition, per Deadline. Redrum, the series’ production company, halted production following the accident, which reportedly took place while the passengers were driving to a nearby airport on June 16. Netflix has not yet commented on the accident.
ORIGINAL STORY (06/18/2022):
Two actors from Netflix’s The Chosen One have died from injuries sustained in a car crash in Mexico on Thursday, June 16. The accident left six other cast or crew members injured. The group was driving in a van near Mulegé on the Baja California Sur peninsula when the crash occurred.
Local news outlets reported the crash on Thursday, saying the van flipped over after veering off the road in a desert area, according to Associated Press. Raymundo Garduño Cruz and Juan Francisco González Aguilar were the two actors who died, according to a Friday report from the Baja California Department of Culture. The cast and crew had reportedly been filming nearby in the Santa Rosalia area.
It’s not clear how the accident will impact production of The Chosen One, which Netflix describes as the following: “A 12-year-old boy learns he’s the returned Jesus Christ, destined to save humankind. Based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Peter Gross.”
The series, written with English and Spanish dialogue, is based on the American Jesus comics created by writer Millar and artist Gross. According to Variety, filming on the series began in April 2022. Casting calls for The Chosen One say it is being produced by an independent production company.
The Chosen One is the latest Netflix production from Millarworld, a comic book publishing house founded by Millar. Millarworld was acquired by Netflix in 2017.
“As creator and re-inventor of some of the most memorable stories and characters in recent history, ranging from Marvel’s The Avengers to Millarworld’s Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Wanted, and Reborn franchises, Mark is as close as you can get to a modern day Stan Lee,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement at the time. “We can’t wait to harness the creative power of Millarworld to Netflix and start a new era in global storytelling.”
Millarworld’s first Netflix show, Jupiter’s Legacy, came out in spring 2021. It was canceled in June 2021.