Summary
- The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have forced studios, including Netflix, to delay upcoming movies and make changes to release schedules.
- Netflix has postponed six big releases, including Millie Bobby Brown's Damsel.
- The strikes have had an immediate impact, with projects put on hold and studios rethinking their release plans. Talks to end the writer's strike may offer a glimmer of hope.
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are starting to make their mark felt on Hollywood with multiple studios having to make changes to their upcoming slates. Now Netflix has become the latest to shift several upcoming movies from their 2023 schedule all the way into 2024. This includes some movies that were pretty imminent, but with actors not being able to promote their new movies, the delays are coming thick and fast.
When it comes to Netflix, Digital Spy reported that the list of delayed titles includes six big releases including Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown’s new fantasy movie Damsel. That movie was originally set to be released in October, but will now not makes its debut on the platform until next year. The other titles hit with similar delays are Kevin Hart’s Lift, A Family Affair starring Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, Damon Wayans Jr. and Gina Rodriguez’s Players, Adam Sandler’s latest comedy Spaceman and Shirley with Regina King. So far, Netflix has not confirmed that the reason for delaying these movies is down to the strikes, but considering a delay like this is unprecedented for Netflix, it seems the most likely option.
Netflix still have some big movies left on their 2023 slate, starting with Gal Gadot’s Heart of Stone – which arrives next week and completed promotion before the actor’s’ strike kicked in – and also including Mike Flanagan’s last Netflix movie, The Fall of the House of Usher, Spy Kids: Armageddon, the belated Chicken Run sequel, and of course Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, which is still expected to debut in December.
How The Strikes Are Hitting Hollywood Studios.
As soon as the SAG-AFTRA strike came into effect, it was obvious that the impact would be almost instantaneous. With actors not being able to act, promote or have any kind of interaction around movies and TV shows they are a part of, many studios have been forced into rethinking their upcoming release schedule.
Several movies that were in production or about to start filming were immediately put on hold, including a number of Marvel projects such as Daredevil: Born Again and Deadpool 3. Additionally, Sony Pictures recently made some big changes to their movie slate, pushing back their Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel and Kraven the Hunter, along with indefinitely putting a hold on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Naturally this is only a small number of the projects that have been impacted, and the longer the strikes go on, the more movies will be joining the list. Although the actor’s strike has just begun, there was a small glimmer of hope for the writer’s strike as after almost 100 days of picketing action, the WGA and studios look set to commence talks again to try and bring their action to a close. Whether that will happen is yet to be seen, but the truth of the matter is that somewhere, something has got to give. How that will come about, though, is another matter entirely.