Hollywood came to a complete halt after SAG-AFTRA went on strike following contract negotiations with studio executives fell through. The entertainment mecha was already facing a slowdown after the writers went on strike months ago. Hollywood has faced a dilemma as multiple productions were forced to pause due to the actor’s strike. Some productions, like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, finished before the acting talent stopped working. Unfortunately, other favorites like Mortal Kombat weren't completed before the strike commenced.
Variety reported that multiple SAG members worked against the clock to finish many projects already hindered by the ongoing writer’s strike. The Rings of Power Season 2 reportedly wrapped up production a few weeks ago. And a Julianne Moore-led miniseries Mary & George completed filming earlier this summer. Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana’s Paris-based musical Emilia Perez wrapped filming just a week before the strike was authorized.
The Peacock gladiator TV series Those About to Die with Anthony Hopkins will continue filming in Italy as the cast and crew are European, which falls outside of SAG-AFTRA authority. Hopkins completed his scenes before the strike began. The series fell in line with the Max series House of Dragon, which will keep shooting for the same reason. The upcoming Alien series joined the fold. The FX series allegedly looked into workarounds on the Bangkok shoot as the production may lean more on its international talent since the two leads are reportedly SAG members.
Other international productions weren’t allegedly as lucky. White Lotus Season 3, also set to film in Thailand, may be delayed further by the actor’s strike after being paused due to the WGA strike. The anthology series was reportedly joined by Mortal Kombat 2 and Gladiator 2, which allegedly continued filming in creative ways during the writer’s strike, taking a filming pause. The Eddie Redmayne-Lashana Lynch series The Day of the Jackal reportedly took a break during the strike. Each production is led by at least one or more SAG-AFTRA members.
Even future productions might be in jeopardy. Emily in Paris’s fourth season may be postponed until further notice after previously moving its production from early summer to October during the WGA strike. Other upcoming projects like Prime Video’s Etoile and Apple TV+’s The New Look reportedly won’t start production as scheduled if the dual strikes stretch into the proposed start dates later this year.
The dual strikes from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have already seen notable stars like George Clooney issue a response. Emotions have been running high during the Hollywood shutdown as Ron Perlman clarified his message toward an unnamed studio head’s comment after SAG enacted the strike. Blue Beetle’s Xolo Maridueña asked fans to support the DC movie in an emotional Instagram post amid the ongoing strikes.
As actors and writers continue to strike, look over our 2023 movie schedule and 2023 TV schedule to see what projects you can support doing during this time.
