Oppenheimer’s US premiere red carpet cancelled in support of SAG-AFTRA strike, film will still be screened

About S”AG-AFTRA strike

SAG-AFTRA called for a strike on July 13 and the first day of picketing was July 14. On Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to join screenwriters 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).

Oppenheimer’s US premiere

As per Variety, Universal Pictures in a statement said, “In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of Oppenheimer will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned, and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film.” The premiere of Oppenheimer is scheduled to take place on Monday at 7 pm ET (4.30 am IST) in New York City.

Oppenheimer cast left UK premiere

The decision comes after the Oppenheimer cast recently left the film’s UK premiere in support of the strike. The UK premiere took place July 13 just hours before SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher officially called for the strike. Oppenheimer cast members Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt walked the UK red carpet but did not attend the screening of the film. Christopher had then said that the actors left the premiere to start making picket signs for the strike.

Speaking about it, Matt told Variety on the UK carpet, “We talked about it. Look, if it’s called now, everyone’s going to walk obviously in solidarity … Once the strike is officially called, [we’re walking]. That’s why we moved this [red carpet] up because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home. We gave the strike authorization. We voted 98% to 2% to do that because we know our leadership has our best interest at heart.” The premiere was also moved up an hour so that the cast could walk the red carpet before the SAG board’s announcement.

About Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer will release in theatres on July 21. The film is about J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist remembered as one of the fathers of the atom bomb.