3 Crew Members from Upcoming Comedy Die in Car Accident

Three crew members working on the production of the upcoming French comedy Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 were killed in a car crash near Châtellerault, France on Friday night. A fourth crew member survived the crash but is now hospitalized in critical condition at the Poitiers University Hospital. The accident was first reported in France by La Nouvelle Republique.

The names of the crew members were not released, but the victims were aged 19, 47, and 49, reports Deadline. The head-on crash happened at around 9 p.m. after the four finished their day's work on the film. Only one person was in the other car that struck the crewmembers and that person suffered only minor injuries, firefighters said. According to Le Parisien, the driver of the other car tried to pass another vehicle when it hit the car the crew members were driving going in the opposite direction.

The grandarmerie and Poitiers prosecutors are investigating the crash. Blood alcohol and narcotics tests were reportedly conducted, but the results were not released. "It's a classic and basic road accident. We have nothing to say ... Pain, that's all. .. A team, you know, it's close, we live together. All of a sudden, people very quickly become close. It's an internal pain in the team, in the film, in their life, in their family. It's a mourning, it's a tragedy," director Sylvestre Guarino said in a statement to La Nouvelle Republique in French.

Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 production was put on hold after the accident, reports Variety. Production began the day of the accident and they planned to film in Châtellerault for four days. Châtellerault is located in the western region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France.

The Serial (Bad) Weddings franchise features Chantal Lauby, Christian Clavier, and Ary Abittan. The first movie was an incredible success in France, making $107 million there in 2014. The first sequel was released in 2019. The franchise tells the story of a Catholic French couple whose four daughters marry men from four different religions and backgrounds. Philippe de Chauveron directed the first two movies. The third film is produced by Romain Rojtman for Les Films du 24 and UGC Images.