'Songbird': Social media savages trailer for Michael Bay-produced pandemic thriller

Watch: Trailer for pandemic thriller Songbird

Producer Michael Bay and the team behind new pandemic thriller Songbird have been urged to “read the room” after the first trailer for the film was unveiled online.

The movie is set several years in the future, with the mutated virus COVID-23 having wiped out huge chunks of the world’s population and quarantine strictly enforced by the military.

Read more: Are disaster movie fans better placed to face pandemic?

It follows a couple played by Sofia Carson and KJ Apa, who have fallen in love despite having never met in person as a result of the years of enforced distancing.

The all-star cast also includes Demi Moore, Bradley Whitford, Craig Robinson, Alexandra Daddario and Paul Walter Hauser.

For many Twitter users, however, this was all a case of the wrong movie at the wrong time.

Songbird was shot over the course of just 17 days in July, becoming the first production to film in Los Angeles since the coronavirus forced sets to shut down in March.

Director Adam Mason and his crew worked under a series of rigorous safety measures, including three times weekly COVID-19 tests, a set organised in various zones and plenty of deep-cleaning.

Read more: Alex Gibney documentary takes on Trump’s virus response

Mason told EW: “I found it incredibly liberating because everyone was just so happy to be involved.

“All the normal egos that go into making a movie, that kind of bulls*** didn't exist with this project.”

The reaction to the trailer was not wholly negative, with several Twitter users pointing out that plenty of people have been seeking disease-based disaster movies since COVID-19 surfaced.

Earlier this year, Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 movie Contagion soared in popularity on various digital platforms.

The film even aired on British television at the height of the UK lockdown in March, with ITV facing more than 150 Ofcom complaints for the scheduling decision.

Songbird is one of several films to complete production during the slightly relaxed restrictions in the UK and USA over the summer.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm completed the lion’s share of its secretive filming during the quarantine, while Doug Liman is in the midst of shooting pandemic-themed heist movie Lockdown in the UK.

Read more: Contagion advisor says people need to “wake up” to advice

Major blockbuster productions including Jurassic World: Dominion and The Batman are also up and running, though many have faced delays as a result of positive coronavirus cases on set.

STX Films has not yet set a confirmed release date for Songbird in the USA or the UK.

Watch: Bad Boys for Life directors discuss Michael Bay cameo