With SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood actors union, now joining their writer colleagues on strike, the American movie industry has been thrown into chaos. You might think making a film or show without a script or an actor attached might be a little tricky – and you’d be right!
As a thousand Hollywood and marketing executives look anxiously at newly-blank calendars, here’s how the current strike action might affect the TV and films we’re watching in the coming months.
What films are affected by the strikes?
In the immediate future, films with upcoming red carpet premieres and promotional tours scheduled will have to do so, largely, without the cast tagging along to flog them. Disney’s Haunted Mansion (28 July), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2 August), giant shark-sequel Meg 2: The Trench (4 August), the latest DC Studios superhero movie Blue Beetle (18 August) and Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie mystery A Haunting In Venice (15 September) could all face promotional hiccups if the action continues.
READ MORE: Disney boss agrees recent films have been ‘creative misses’
But not being allowed on Graham Norton is nothing compared to those films still in production. Ghostbusters 4, Barry Jenkin’s Lion King prequel, Avatar 3 and 4 and, most devastatingly, Paddington in Peru were all in the process of, or just about to start, filming when the strike was called, which will inevitably lead to delays.
Others, like much of Marvel’s upcoming slate, have already been delayed by the writers strike, as many of those projects still don’t have finished scripts.
Paddington’s upcoming flight to Peru might face a few delays (Credit: Studio Canal)
What TV shows are affected by the strikes?
According to the BBC, Warner Bros Discovery were previously pretty chuffed that HBO projects like House of the Dragon could continue filming, as their scripts were finished before action was declared. For now, they’ll still be pretty happy – the UK’s strict anti-union laws mean work on the fantasy series’ second season hasn’t stopped yet.
Given the global nature of streaming production right now, a number of big shows might be able to find ways to film if they have a completed script ready to go, but shows like Stranger Things, The Last of Us, and Yellowjackets have all already stopped production as their writers join the picket lines.
Big events in the TV calendar like the Emmys – which announced their nominees earlier this week – will also have to go ahead without any of their biggest stars, if they decide to go ahead at all.
But the strikes might be the most devastating for American network TV. NBC’s ever-popular Chicago Med, Fire and P.D. are all looking to go off air in the near future, as are NCIS and Young Sheldon on CBS, and Family Guy and The Simpsons on Fox.
During the 2008 writers strike, networks responded by commissioning larger volumes of unscripted content and reality TV, and the same has happened here – though with the actors union now joining the strike, many famous presenting faces who are members of SAG-AFTRA likely won’t be able to join.
Production on season 2 of HBO’s acclaimed The Last of Us has already been shut down (Credit: HBO)
How long will the strikes last?
The writers’ strike has been ongoing for more than 70 days now, previously with no end in sight. But, with the support of the actors’ guild shutting down production across the industry, the strikers have just received a huge boost, both in terms of picket morale and bargaining power.
The last actors strike in 1980 lasted 10 weeks before a deal was struck, a shutdown which the BBC says cost the industry about $100 million, the equivalent of $370 million today.
But the 2007 writers’ strike lasted 3 months and 8 days, so the truth is – we have no idea. Chances are, though, that the combined power of the actors and writers unions will force executives to the table far faster than either guild alone.
