The Walking Dead season 8: Stuntman John Bernecker injured, production halted
AMC confirmed the news with a statement today that largely speaks for itself:
“We are saddened to report that John Bernecker, a talented stuntman for The Walking Dead and numerous other television shows and films, suffered serious injuries from a tragic accident on set. He was immediately transported to an Atlanta hospital and we have temporarily shut down production. We are keeping John and his family in our thoughts and prayers.”
Bernecker is a veteran stuntman, having worked on a number of different productions including Black Panther, The Vampire Diaries, Scream Queens, and more. This is obviously the last thing that you ever want to see happen on a production: There are high stakes and dangerous stunts, but everyone does their best to ensure that it is ultimately a safe environment for everyone involved. Halting the production for the time being does feel like the right move, given that the ultimate goal here should be safety for everyone involved from the cast to the crew to any productions or extras who are in Atlanta.
One of the first cast members to speak out about the news was Lauren Cohan, who had the following to say on Twitter:
A spokesperson for the SAG-AFTRA union, meanwhile, added the following:
“We have been informed of a serious injury to a SAG-AFTRA member on the set of The Walking Dead and are investigating the situation. As always, the safety and security of our members and others on set is of crucial concern to us and we are focused on this in our investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the performer and his family.”
Hopefully, Bernecker will pull through and filming will be able to resume before long. Our thoughts go out to him and his family. At the moment, season 8 of The Walking Dead will premiere on AMC this fall, and Comic-Con featuring the cast next week is currently still expected to go on as planned.
When there is some further news when it comes to this situation, we will have it for you here. There are varying reports on his condition, and we want to wait for official word before confirming further. (Photo: AMC.)