The production on Natalie Portman-starrer Lady in the Lake was halted in the US state of Maryland after the show's team received a threat of violence. As per New York Post, the makers of the Apple TV+ thriller were forced to suspend filming in Baltimore after local drug dealers threatened to shoot up the set unless they were paid USD 50,000. Natalie Portman Birthday: From Closer to Jackie – 5 Movie Quotes by the Powerful Characters She Played on the Screen.

The Baltimore Police Department said residents of the area warned producers filming Lady in the Lake that they would "come back later this evening [and] shoot someone" if they continued their work on the 200 block of Park Avenue in the Bromo Arts District.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the production's studio, Endeavor Content, wrote, "Friday afternoon, on the Baltimore set of our production Lady in the Lake, prior to the arrival of the cast and crew ... a driver on our production crew was confronted by two men, one of whom brandished a gun directed at our driver, and then they fled the location.

We are working with the Baltimore Police Department as the investigation is ongoing. The safety and security of our crew, cast and all who work across our productions is our highest priority, and we are thankful no one was injured. Production will resume with increased security measures going forward. It has been a privilege filming Lady in the Lake in Baltimore, working with its vibrant community across many areas."

Lady in the Lake is based on the best-selling novel of the same title by Laura Lippman. The story is set in Baltimore in the 1960s, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (Portman) to reinvent herself as an investigative reporter. Natalie Portman Birthday Special: 7 Times the Black Swan Actress Mesmerised Us with Her Alluring Red Carpet Choices.

Her new calling puts her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood (Ingram Moses, who replaced a previously announced Lupita Nyong'o in the production), who juggles motherhood, several jobs and a commitment to the city's Black progressive agenda.