Some major Hollywood action has been hit hard after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) went out on strike on July 14, in a bid to find a better deal for creative talent within the streaming economy.
Following on from the initial strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on May 2, the actors’ strike meant fears went from how TV would be affected to how much of a delay there would be to your favourite blockbuster.
The answer, of course, is that it massively affects all of them, with production being halted worldwide. There’s another conversation here about there being too many sequels made, but we’ll leave that for now. Here, instead, are five movies set to be delayed by the actors’ strike action.
Apex
After Brad Pitt caused a stir in the pit lane at the British Grand Prix last week, further work has now been paused after the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) decided to take its first strike action since 1980. Pitt had hugely committed to the role—Lewis Hamilton also has a producer credit—and has even driven F2 cars in preparation for his role as ageing-driver-turned-mentor.
Gladiator 2
The long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s multi-Oscar-winning movie of 2000 has been blighted with bad luck since it began filming. Set to star Oscar nominee Paul Mescal as the nephew of Russel Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius (and with revenge on his mind), a stunt accident led to injuries of six crew members after filming started in Morocco. Filming stopped again for the strike this month. But they will get it done, whether in this life or the next.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two
While you’re all marvelling at Tom Cruise’s valiant attempts to, once again fling him off things in service of humanity in Dead Reckoning Part One, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for the follow-up. By all insider accounts, the majority of filming on Part Two is complete, but parts of production were delayed while the team promoted Part One. Now SAG has called everybody out, making the mission that little bit more impossible.
Deadpool 3
We’ve all been rather excited about the third instalment of Deadpool after seeing those initial trailers featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine taking his place alongside Ryan Reynolds’ wisecracking main act. The SAG strike means an end to production on a multiverse caper that many were banking on to give the superhero genre the bump it currently needs.
Beetlejuice 2
It doesn’t matter how many times you say Beetlejuice right now, he’s not coming back until the SAG strike is over. The film that sees the return of Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara—and Jenna Ortega as Ryder’s daughter—began filming in the UK in May, but has since been brought to a halt. Fair enough, we suppose. It’s been 35 years since Tim Burton’s original, so we can wait a little while longer for the sequel.