The Hollywood actors’ strike that threatened to plunge studios into chaos may finally be over after 118 days, it was confirmed this evening.
Union SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with studios.
Two weeks of intense negotiations between the artists’ union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers appear to have led to a breakthrough in the long-running dispute. The official end is scheduled for Thursday at 12:01 p.m.
The union said in a statement that its negotiators voted unanimously to approve the tentative agreement, which will be presented to the union’s national executive board on Friday for “review and consideration.”
The strikes began on July 14, with actors highlighting a range of issues, including pay and the use of artificial intelligence at the heart of talks.
The deal still needs to be ratified by union members, but would end a summer of labor disputes that also saw Hollywood writers strike for nearly five months.
The strikes began on July 14, with actors highlighting a range of issues, including pay and the use of artificial intelligence at the heart of talks
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, attended the talks that appear to have led to a breakthrough in the four-month strike
Hollywood experienced its first double work stoppage in 63 years, halting production across the industry and costing the economy billions of dollars
Talks broke down as recently as October 12, when studio bosses resigned, saying the SAG-AFTRA proposal for $800 million more per year meant “the gap was too big.”
But Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav and Disney CEO Bob Iger personally attended the resumed talks at the union’s national headquarters in Los Angeles as the dispute threatened to bring the industry to its knees .
Warner Bros. predicted in September that the actors’ and writers’ strike would result in a loss of up to $500 million this year.
Hollywood’s first double work stoppage in 63 years led to production halts across the industry and cost the economy billions of dollars.
But the studios announced they had suspended contract negotiations in October after making an offer as good as the one that ended the writers’ strike.
“It is clear that the gap between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great and the discussions are no longer moving us in a productive direction,” the AMPTP said in a statement.
The actors’ union condemned their opponents’ “bullying tactics” and said they were completely misrepresenting their offers.
But on October 24, talks resumed after a nearly two-week break when the studios improved their offer to raise actors’ pay floors and introduced a performance-based streaming bonus.
Numerous big-budget films in the works had to be canceled immediately. Among the affected productions was the expected sequel to Deadpool 3
Filming on Gladiator 2, which stars Paul Mescal (pictured), has also been temporarily canceled due to the anticipated uncertainty
Shows like Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria were not spared, as the show’s third season was pushed back to 2025
Two days later, a letter signed by thousands of actors was released telling union negotiations: “We have not come all this way to give in now.”
Details of the new contract have yet to be announced after studios made their “last, best and final” offer for the use of AI, which actors fear will destroy their profession.
In a letter to actors last month, the union claimed the companies “refuse to protect artists from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to ‘to share a tiny portion of the immense income that YOUR work generates for you’.
The union has worked to close potential AI loopholes that could cause future problems and secured a significant increase in health and pension contribution caps, which have not changed in decades.
SAG-AFTRA announced that they would join the strike on July 13, and their president, actress Fran Drescher, said, “We demand respect!” You cannot exist without us!
“What happens to us matters,” “The Nanny” star added. “What happens to us happens in all areas of work.”
“When employers make Wall Street and greed their priority while forgetting the essential contributors who keep the machine running, then we have a problem.”
SAG boss Fran Drescher led the dispute between the actors and approved the new deal
In July, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) decided to show solidarity with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), which had been on strike since May, after negotiations with the studios failed
“The plan is high, we demand respect,” she said.
The union urged its members last month in a digital flyer on its strike website not to dress up as characters from striking films or series on Halloween.
In addition to avoiding characters appearing in current films or television shows, guild members should also avoid wearing costumes of characters owned by the affected companies, such as: B. Characters from Marvel films primarily owned by Disney.
A flyer asked members to “select costumes inspired by general characters and characters,” citing ghosts, zombies and spiders as safe and acceptable costume ideas.