A crew member on the production of Indiana Jones 5 has been found dead in Morocco, where filming has been taking place, New York Post reports.
Nic Cupac, a 54-year-old grip on the film's 2nd unit, was found dead in his hotel room in the city of Fes, Walt Disney Studios told New York Post on Thursday.
Disney stated that Cupac's death was not related to the production of the film. A specific cause of death has not been released.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Nic Cupac, an incredibly talented colleague and member of the film community who will be greatly missed,” a representative for the film told The Post.
Cupac was a longtime production worker, with credits on the Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and Star Wars franchises. The Post reports that he only recently traveled to Morocco to work on Indiana Jones 5. Cupac's work included building and maintaining the rigs that supported camera equipment during shooting.
Production on Indiana Jones 5 has been infamously troubled, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. Morocco recently banned flights to and from the UK in response to a surge of COVID cases, BBC reports. The 79-year-old Harrison Ford was also injured while rehearsing for a fight scene, forcing him to step away from production for three months. Steven Spielberg was also originally attached to direct (making it his fifth Indiana Jones film) but stepped down to a producer role in February of 2020 and was replaced by Ford vs. Ferrari and Logan director James Mangold. Spielberg's take on Indiana Jones 5 reportedly fell apart due to script disagreements.
Indiana Jones 5 was originally planned to release in July 2021 but has since been delayed to June 30, 2023, along with numerous Marvel films. It's unknown if Cupac's death will further delay production.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.