'Ticket to Paradise' has halted production in Australia due to a serious outbreak of coronavirus.

Sources close to the movie say that stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts have returned home to the United States as a result.

The film began production last year in multiple locations in the state of Queensland and had only been two weeks from completion but reports say that the movie will now shut down for three months – and it is not yet clear when the camera will be able to roll again.

'Ticket to Paradise' is being directed by Ol Parker and follows two divorced parents who rush to Bali to stop their daughter from rushing into an unwise marriage like their own.

Filming would make use of the Whitsunday Islands, standing in for Bali, with other locations including Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The movie had been slated for release this October but the three-month halt to production could put the date in doubt.

George previously described his co-star Julia, 54, as a "proper movie star", even though he finds it hard to articulate what enables a performer to fall into that particular category.

Asked what makes a movie star, the 60-year-old actor said: "I don’t know. I can’t comment on that because I can’t comment on how people perceive or how I am perceived by people.

"I can comment on movie stars in general. I know a few of them and I’ve known some big ones. I was really good friends with Gregory Peck, he was a big one. Newman, there’s some other ones I’m friends with who are movie stars, proper movie stars.

"Brad Pitt’s a movie star, Julia Roberts is a movie star.

"I suppose the only thing—I can’t remember who it was, a government official once said, you know I can’t give you the definition of porn but I know it when I see it."