If you thought the Writers’ Guild of America strike hit the entertainment industry hard, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Today SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is preparing to go on strike, joining writers on the picket line as they demand better conditions from studios.
Around 160,000 actors are in the union and last-minute talks are currently underway to try and reach a deal, with the strike beginning later today if the SAG-AFTRA board votes to go ahead. One interesting wrinkle is that Universal has brought forward the London premiere of Oppenheimer by a single hour so the cast can make a red carpet appearance before strike rules prohibit it.
As reported by Variety, Oppenheimer will now premiere in London’s Leicester Square at 4:45 pm rather than 5:45 pm. One unknown question is what the actors should do if they’re midway through Christopher Nolan’s three-hour atomic behemoth when the strike begins.
Theoretically, they’re simply enjoying a movie rather than working, though it’s possible they may have to exit the theater and may never find out whether J. Robert Oppenheimer ever succeeded in tapping into the destructive power of the sun (spoilers, kaboom).
It’s unclear whether the strike will really go ahead, though the current situation doesn’t look great. Even no there’s no sign of an agreement, and on Monday the studios requested that a federal mediator join the negotiations. If things don’t work out then expect chaos to reign and studios will be faced with one of the most serious content droughts in years.