Hollywood Strike: ‘Mission: Impossible 8’, ‘Gladiator 2’ and other tentpoles halt production

SAG-AFTRA union President Fran Drescher (C) and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator (L), demonstrate as SAG-AFTRA actors join the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in a strike against the Hollywood studios, on the picket line outside of Netflix offices in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 14, 2023.
| Photo Credit: MIKE BLAKE

The rare twin strikes by Hollywood actors and film and television writers have halted the production of many tentpole projects.

The production of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s much-awaited film Deadpool 3, Tom Cruise’s eighth Mission: Impossible movie, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch remake, Brad Pitt’s Formula One movie, and Tom Hardy’s Venom 3 are a few of the many projects that might have to wait until the Hollywood studios and the striking actors and screenwriters come to an amicable agreement.

Other titles like Wicked, Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 and Mortal Kombat 2 are also presumably halting productions but there is no confirmation regarding the same, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

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At Marvel Studios, which has a minimum of eight titles coming up just this year, work on projects that have already been shot will continue but the uncertainty on the schedules of the other titles in the line-up looms large.

However, THR’s report added, the ongoing strike might not affect animated features set to release in 2025 since studios, as is the common practice, record temporary voices to work with until the striking actors can return to work. The same luxury will not be available for animated features that are set to release in 2024 — like Kung Fu Panda 4, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Despicable Me 4, and Transformers One — as actors might be needed to record the final dialogue, said THR.

Last week, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to team up with the screenwriters under the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in the first joint strike after failing to reach a consensus for a new contract with the studios and streaming services, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The actors are joining the writers on the picket lines for the first time in 63 years. The unionized workers are demanding higher compensation in an era when the streaming of movies and TV shows has reduced royalties for working-class actors.