Entertainment industry shutdown: Hollywood strikes continue

Back in May, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) voted to go on strike over a dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) concerning a variety of built-up issues in the streaming culture such as residuals, artificial intelligence and the creation of a gig economy. With 11,000 unionised script-writers ceasing their work and joining the picket lines, the strikes have become hard for studios to ignore and disappointingly several months on, the studios continue to refuse to pay script-writers and actor's fairly.

When the strikes initially began, WGA members were joined on the picket lines by many stars of the big and small screens such as Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Lin Manuel-Miranda (Hamilton) and Jaimie Lee Curtis (Halloween). In July, the WGA was joined on strike by SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actor's Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which has around 160,000 members in film and television but also video games, radio, models and even YouTubers.

As the strike began, the stars of Oppenheimer and Barbie walked off red carpets and halted the promotion of two of the biggest films of the year, though that did not have an impact on box office success. Shortly after the strikes began Disney faced a deserved backlash for continuing to hold a red carpet event for their Haunted Mansion movie, which definitely should have been a Halloween release, by using costumed characters from their theme park. Social media users who didn't seem to understand the distinction between a 'screen actor' and theme park actor who is paid only $15 an hour then labelled them as 'scabs', a name used to refer to workers brought into the work during a strike.

As we enter September studios have made decisions to postpone various projects. Warner Brothers has decided to push the hotly anticipated Dune 2 from November to March of next year despite the two trailers that have been released and the stars having just graced the cover of Empire magazine. No news on delaying Aquaman 2 yet which is still expected to release in December despite there not being a single trailer or poster. The delay of Dune 2 concerns already struggling cinema chains as cinema continues to suffer post pandemic. Dune 2 takes the spot on the calendar that was previously for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire which has now been moved to April. Dune's delay then frees up coveted IMAX screens for The Marvels, the sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), though Marvel are being criticised for not moving the film, seemingly setting it up for an excuse if it fails to live up to box office expectations.

Speaking of Marvel, they have just updated their release slate for their Disney Plus shows as a result of strike action. The second season of Loki had been completed prior to the strikes and is still expected to release at the start of October. Season two of What If...? is now a Christmas release, Echo is now expected early 2024 and Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (is that the fourth name change?) expected autumn of 2024. X-Men '97, the continuation of the 90s animated show, will debut early next year. However some projects have been left in limbo such as Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart.

Can we expect studios to reach an agreement any time soon? In July, SAG-AFTRA approved the continuation of production on 39 independent projects including two A24 films. Video games look like they will be the next component of the entertainment industry to shut down as SAG-AFTRA seek approval to strike, potentially affecting upcoming games in the next year. With studios reputations suffering, especially after crass comments being made by studio bosses, support and solidarity for the unions continue.