SAG Strike: ‘Avatar’ and ‘Gladiator’ Sequels Expected to Hit as Actors Exit

Major movies in production, including sequels to “Avatar” and “Gladiator,” are likely to be affected by the strike action of Hollywood actors.

Promotional events such as red carpet premieres, such as Disney’s “Haunted Mansion,” which hits theaters later this month, are also affected.

Events such as the Emmy Awards and Comic-Con may be postponed or curtailed.

It was the industry’s largest shutdown in more than 60 years, with about 160,000 performers in Los Angeles stopping work at midnight.

The picketing begins Friday morning in front of Netflix’s California headquarters before moving on to Paramount, Warner Bros. and Disney.

The announcement of the strike follows a similar strike action by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which halted most film and television production in the United States.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is calling on streaming giants to agree to a fairer profit sharing and better working conditions.

We also want to protect our actors from being hijacked by digital replicas.

The union is seeking assurances that artificial intelligence (AI) or computer-generated faces and voices will not be used in place of actors.

During the strike, actors cannot appear in films or even promote films they have already made.

Other works that could be affected include “Deadpool 3” starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the “Beetlejuice” sequel directed by Tim Burton, and the film adaptation of the musical “Wicked.”

HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” as well as Netflix’s “Sandman” and “Family Guy 2,” and Fox’s “The Simpsons,” could also be affected by the strike.

The US network responded by expanding the amount of “unscripted content” such as “Masked Singer,” “The Amazing Race,” “Survivor” and “Kitchen Nightmare” on its fall schedule.

British Film Institute chief Phil Clapp told BBC News that he did not believe the strike would cause major disruption to moviegoers.

“Given the challenges UK cinema operators have faced over the last few years, it is highly hoped that the current dispute will be resolved quickly, as everyone is concerned about what could potentially threaten the supply of films to the big screen,” he said.

“However, starting with Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and more have already been shut down or coming to cinemas soon, with other major titles extending to 2024 and promising to delight millions of cinemagoers in the coming weeks and months.

“Unless the current strikes are prolonged, I am confident that there will be little disruption to cinemas in the near future.”

Actors Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt walked out of the London premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on Thursday night as a strike was declared.

The film’s director, Christopher Nolan, told moviegoers “I’m going to write a picket sign,” adding that he supports their struggle.

For films in production, the strike means that much of the work will be impossible. Actors will no longer be able to participate in reshoots and other key elements of the filmmaking process, even if filming has already been completed.

Most of the TV shows that are still filming will also be canceled, but in some cases, there may be secondary deals between performers and producers that allow production to continue.

Several actors took to Instagram to support the strike, including Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon and Hollywood veteran Jamie Lee Curtis.

He added that the invention of streaming services “changed the dynamics of TV dramas in particular,” and said actors’ sources of income changed.

“The United States does not have a National Health Service, so private health insurance must be obtained and, of course, the balance of money we rely on to pay for medical care is becoming increasingly difficult,” he explained.

Balances are payments made to actors from reruns of films and shows in which they have appeared. The remaining balance was traditionally paid when reruns of the show aired on terrestrial TV channels, but streaming further complicated this arrangement.

To address concerns about the use of AI, major studios have put forward what they call “groundbreaking proposals” to protect actors’ digital likenesses and require consent if digital replicas are used in performances or altered.

However, the union rejected an offer by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The SAG’s National Secretary and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree Ireland, said this was unacceptable.

“They suggest that background performers should be able to be scanned and paid for a day’s wages, and that their company should own the image or likeness scan and be able to use it forever,” he said. “If you think this is a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”

AMPTP said the strike “certainly wasn’t the result we wanted because no studio can run without the performers who bring TV shows and movies to life.”

“Unfortunately, the union has chosen a path that creates financial hardship for countless people dependent on the industry,” the union added in a statement.

The union is officially known as the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

One of the demands on streaming services is for actors to receive more base salaries as well as increased residuals.

The strike includes tens of thousands of actors who are paid significantly less for bit roles than their A-list peers.

“Older models get a residual income based on their success,” The Hollywood Reporter’s editor-in-chief Kim Masters told the BBC. “With the new model, we can’t know what’s going on behind the scenes because streamers don’t share.”

SAG president Fran Drescher said the strike came at a “very important moment” for actors in the industry.

“What’s happening to us is what’s happening in all areas of work: Employers are putting Wall Street and greed first and forgetting the key contributors who run the machine,” she said.

Britain’s trade union Equity said on Friday that the actors’ strike could spread across the Atlantic if a US production company moves production to Britain over industrial action by a US production company.

The group, which represents more than 47,000 British actors, said the union stands in solidarity with the striking US actors.

Equity told the US company it would “very closely monitor” any attempts to move production to the UK in an action called Thursday evening, although it was not a high profile move.

Another strike by 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America has been going on since May 2, demanding better wages and working conditions.

Some writers have turned to projects outside the scope of the deal between the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

It was the first “double strike” by both unions since 1960, when actor Ronald Reagan led the SAG long before he entered politics and became president of the United States. The last strike by actors took place in 1980.

Speaking at a gathering of industry leaders at an Idaho resort ahead of Thursday’s SAG announcement, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the demands of both actors and writers were unrealistic and hurt an industry that is still recovering from the pandemic.

“It’s very disturbing to me,” Iger said. “Now is the worst time in the world to fuel that chaos.”

A third union, the Directors Guild of America, successfully negotiated a deal in June, but will not participate.