Celebrities cancel trips to Las Cruces International Film Festival amidst coronavirus outbreak

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- Four celebrities in the film world canceled their trip to the Las Cruces International Film Festival this week as concerns of the coronavirus continue to spread.

"Yeah, the coronavirus scared off a few of our guests," Las Cruces International Film Festival Executive Director Ross Marks told ABC-7 on Friday. "I tried to convince them that Las Cruces was probably the safest place to be."

Actor Judge Reinhold, Actor Graham Green, Actress Chelah Horsdal and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman all canceled their trip to Las Cruces, Marks confirmed.

"We lost one Academy Award-Winner, but got another Academy-Award winner," Marks said.

Academy-Award winning screenwriter Graham Moore stepped in to help with the festival. (You can watch ABC-7's full interview with Moore in the video player at the top of this story.)

"I flew," Moore said. "I brought some hand sanitizer. Some wipes for the seat."

He joked that the travel was actually easier because Los Angeles residents were avoiding the airport.

"The flight was about half full," Moore said. "So it was an amazing experience, because I got here so fast."

The Las Cruces International Film Festival runs through Sunday. Click here for a full schedule.