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Concerned that a prolonged strike by actors would cause long-term, irreparable damage to the industry, Hollywood’s biggest stars pledged to commit $150 million over three years in a Zoom call with SAG-AFTRA leaders this week , to lift a cap on union dues and so achieve more They proposed coins into guild coffers and proposed a streamer residual structure that would place actors at the bottom of the list in front of them, in the hope that faster fundraising would help actors would help those struggling to qualify for benefits.
Deadline can reveal that the entire list of actors at this meeting includes George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Kerry Washington, Tyler Perry, Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Laura Dern, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Reynolds and Ariana DeBose.
They were there to express concern about the continued disruption to business operations caused by an actors’ strike that reached its 100th day today. These fears were not eased when one of the stars expressed fears that the strike could drag on until Christmas and that this would mean financial damage for many.
“Christmas is just a day,” we were told, a SAG-AFTRA leader’s response. When guild leadership turned to the media to water down the gesture, the guild issued guidelines to its members prohibiting them from wearing Halloween costumes depicting characters from films and television shows from the affected companies.
After that meeting, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher thanked the Stars for their proposal, but said it was legally inconsistent with the union contract and had “no impact on the contract we are arguing about.”
Welcome to another day of the Twilight Zone in the ongoing actors’ strike, where studios have walked away from the table and currently have no plans to return. Meanwhile, the AMPTP’s battle with the Writers Guild and now SAG-AFTRA has resulted in a $5 billion loss to the California economy, the loss of 45,000 industry jobs and a $400 million fall box office collapse. Dollars (for the post-Labor Day period through Oct. 18, compared to pre-pandemic 2019) because the sides appear unable to find common ground after reaching agreements with the WGA and the Directors Guild.
It would be unfair to call out the sides for not trying, but for below-the-line workers who haven’t cashed a paycheck in six months, both sides see no urgency in stopping the bleeding from the actors’ strike, and The ongoing public war of words that erupts every time talks fail has many wondering whether the damage will be irreparable when an agreement is finally reached.
“I’m worried about a lot of companies,” a trade show executive told Deadline about the strike’s expected impact on movie theaters, especially as studios prepare to move their tentpoles from the 2024 theatrical release calendar. Marvel Studios’ Deadpool 3 is the first casualty, as Deadline first reported.
“This time there is no state money to fall back on, as was the case during the pandemic,” the district manager added.
RELATED: SAG-AFTRA strike photos: Actors and performing artists on the strike line
One side is throwing up and the other side is rejecting the kind of terms you typically see when negotiations are just getting underway. Streamers have been getting a free pass for a long time and the residuals given to actors in shows like “Orange is the New Black” are a joke. But not only are the sides far apart when it comes to the conditions, they also cannot agree on what these conditions will actually cost the studios. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos called SAG-AFTRA’s proposal to charge an annual fee of 57 cents per subscriber “a levy on subscribers,” which for him was “a bridge too far.”
On Thursday evening, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee said in a statement to members: “For 98 days, we have stood strong and united in our pursuit of justice, fairness and the value we bring to the industry.”
“The WGA triumphed after 148 hard-fought days, proof that perseverance will break through the toughest barriers and lead to the transformative change we need to justify the sacrifices of all,” the statement continued.
Forty-eight more days sounds like a long time out of work for the hairdresser, cameraman, cameramen, etc.
As studios and SAG-AFTRA argue over terms for AI and streaming residuals, actors’ inability to promote major studio projects has cost millions at the box office, not just major films that have moved, like the Zendaya title Challengers or Sony/Marvel’s Kraven The Hunter and Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two, but also in diluted ticket sales of pictures that could not be fully promoted, e.g. B. Expendables 4 ($16.5 million), A Haunting in Venice ($40 million) and The Creator ($34.1 million), to name a few. Post-Labor Day box office totals this year through Oct. 18 are $642 million, down from $1 billion in 2019.
This weekend is a perfect example of the world premiere of “Killers of the Flower Moon” without the publicity of stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, a Native American actress who is a revelation in the film.
“If they don’t advertise, it hurts the box office and therefore their bid for the next big project,” notes a studio sales manager about the stars’ inability to do press work during the strike.
Deadpool 3 Ryan Reynolds Instagram
“Mickey 17” Warner Bros
After “Deadpool 3”, further groundbreaking changes to the cinema release calendar are expected. Some exhibitors wouldn’t be shocked to see some Q1 and Q2 releases like “A Quiet Place: Day One” (March 8), Disney’s “Snow White” (March 22) and “Bong Joon-ho” -Warner Bros. film “Mickey 17,” moving into summer. There are already plenty of placeholders for unnamed major studio releases in the Q3 and Q4 calendar.
Some analysts estimate that domestic box office could decline by about 30% in 2024 compared to 2023.
The strike has dented studios’ marketing power to raise box office tentpoles and forced companies to limit Hollywood premieres to fan events or silent screening receptions. November features Disney’s The Marvels (November 11), Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents (November 17), Disney’s Wish (November 22) and Napoleon” from Apple/Sony (November 22nd). The Marvels’ expected $75 million opening is already half of what 2019’s Captain Marvel made. Since there were no stars to promote it, the sequel was not present at either the San Diego or New York Comic-Cons.
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG’s national managing director and chief negotiator, recently told Deadline that its 160,000 members remain committed to waiting out the studios even after the 100-day mark. “Our members and our entire bargaining committee remain strong and energized at this milestone,” he said. “I think this is a milestone that should never have happened because the studios simply didn’t negotiate in a straightforward way. We made significant concessions in our last proposal and an agreement should have been reached a long time ago. When companies come back to the table, I am optimistic that we will find a way forward.”
Ticking clock for Actors in faltering feature films
Many filmmakers and studios are hoping that if the strike ends soon, stalled productions can resume in January. This is looking bleaker by the day, and there is no clear sign that either side will quickly return to the negotiating table.
Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Paramount
In addition to Deadpool 3, filming stopped during the actors’ strike also includes Paramount’s Gladiator 2 (release date: November 22, 2024), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two (June 28, 2024) and the Clint Eastwood-directed Warner Bros. drama Juror Number 2 (TBD) and Universal’s adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked (Part 1 releases November 27, 2024).
These productions did not have to worry about losing actors when scripts were put on hold during the writers’ strike. Now that the WGA has negotiated a deal with the AMPTP and TV writers’ rooms have restarted, planning casts and locations becomes more difficult the longer a strike lasts.
Previously, talent only had to pass on projects in potential future opportunities due to their current commitments. An example is Daisy Edgar-Jones, who left Ron Howard’s Origin of Species due to the production stop on Twisters. But that doesn’t mean that talent isn’t being eliminated from films whose production was stopped because other projects were given priority. An example of this would be a star in a television series such as “The Last of Us” or “Stranger Things,” which takes priority over other projects that have been stalled by the strike. In such a scenario, an actor could be forced to pull out of stalled productions when the television writers’ room begins delivering scripts and production dates for the series are set. Added to this are scheduling conflicts for all talent involved in projects with SAG-AFTRA interim agreements.
It’s not just feature film shoots that have been affected by the 100-day strike, as projects in pre-production and development have been significantly slowed down. It’s difficult to assemble casts when actors aren’t even allowed to meet with studios for roles, let alone sign a contract.
Even when it came to hiring directors for projects after the DGA deal in June, momentum was slow because actors typically have a say in choosing a director. The WGA deal has led to a surge in directors feeling comfortable enough to take on projects: Deadline recently broke the news that Chris Rock is in talks to direct a Martin Luther King biopic and that Jaume Collet -Serra directed by Kate Warne at Amazon MGM. These developments will proceed slowly until an agreement can be reached between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP.
Tentative agreements create uncertainty heading into awards season
(LR) Youree Henley, Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny and Dennis Lim during the “Priscilla” Q&A at the New York Film Festival
On a recent Monday evening, A24 celebrated its Los Angeles premiere of “Priscilla,” where filmmaker Sofia Coppola and stars Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny attended a post-screening reception at the Academy Museum. A24 is in a unique position compared to other studios in the actors’ strike as it is not a member of the AMPTP. Priscilla, like many A24 titles this Oscar season and others from indie distributors including Neon, was released to a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement. About 200 contracts were awarded by the guild to independent providers, with non-signatory distributors agreeing to comply with SAG-AFTRA’s new guidelines on AI regulations and streaming revenue sharing. The tentative agreements have allowed such productions to advertise their casts at festivals and awards season events.
RELATED: SAG-AFTRA interim agreements: Complete list of films and TV series
In a heavily promoted awards season, titles with SAG-AFTRA interim agreements have a leg up on Oscar bait from AMPTP companies like Amazon, Warner Bros. or Netflix when it comes to wowing voters. They include Barry Koegan and Jacob Elordi, who star in Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming Saltburn; Unable to promote this film as it comes from a struggling company, they leave Oscar-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell to make it alone. This is the fate of many films in the running this season: it’s up to the directors to do the heavy lifting in the campaign.
Unlike during the pandemic, when the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences extended qualifying dates into the new year and moved up its Oscars ceremony, the organization has no plans to extend an awards season that has been upended by the strike with many stars not able to tubthump. It’s no coincidence that stars like Clooney, Stone and DeBose are lobbying SAG-AFTRA leadership for a possible solution to the strike: all have won awards, including MGM’s “The Boys in the Boat,” “Poor Things” from MGM Searchlight and the Disney animated film Wunsch or
(LR) Patrick Dempsey, Michael Mann and Adam Driver at the “Ferrari” premiere at Venice Getty
While actors from films like Ferrari tentatively signed by SAG-AFTRA have had no problems appearing at fall film festivals, some are wary of appearing disloyal, even when they have been given assurances by the leadership. Celebrity actors were among the most reserved, with Viola Davis the first major star to make her thoughts known. She was set to star in “G20,” a film that was to be distributed but not produced by Amazon. Although she was also among the producers who were given a deal for the action thriller, she initially told Deadline that she would not move forward with the project during the strike as she felt it wouldn’t make sense to do so, when so many others are unemployed. suitable.”
The initial reaction to the introduction of these agreements has been, and continues to be, confusion, with many wondering how studio-backed projects like New Line’s horror film “The Watchers” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” will ultimately end up, along with ultra-low-budget indies. Films are allowed. Actor-turned-indie producer Jonathan Daniel Brown was among those who voiced their grievances, frustrated by the feeling that “star-studded projects” were getting the green light while small films were left “rotting on the vine.” A widespread fear is that interim agreements could end up generating revenue for the very companies affected if they make a big offer at the festivals. A24’s streaming output deal with Showtime/Paramount+ is currently up, and the studio is weighing offers on where to place its pictures next in that window.
While SAG-AFTRA defends that such agreements put people back to work at a time of economic turmoil, there’s a big difference between making a living on a short-term indie film that costs $10 million than with a massive $100 million studio venture that employs thousands over several months.
Whether these tentatively released projects will fill the gaps in the theatrical release calendar after major studios postpone their titles due to the ongoing strike is highly questionable. It was very clear that after the pandemic, smaller films were inferior at the box office compared to pre-corona times; Such titles have shorter theatrical runs before arriving in homes, some around 10 to 17 days. Ultimately, the deal agreed to between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA supersedes any tentative agreements previously signed and flooded by SAG-AFTRA attorneys, who were inundated with inquiries during the process.
Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Drescher said in her IG message to guild members on Thursday evening: “This too will pass. But this is the moment when we don’t give in to the pressure. It is the moment when we stand tall and strong.”
But at what final price?