Hollywood remains in deep freeze as America’s screen actors and film and television writers press on with their strikes. Already the industrial action is having all sorts of side effects, from impacting celebrity podcasts to affecting the booking policies of television chat shows, as US stars
Hollywood strikes: Mission Impossible, The Last of Us and Andor - has your favourite show been affected?
By Ed Power
Daily Telegraph UK·
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This will be the last time we see Tom Cruise and Vanessa Kirby in Mission: Impossible for a while as the second instalment is officially on ice.
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2. Gladiator 2
Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal were two-thirds of the way through the shoot on Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Roman epic, filmed in Malta and Morocco (where six stunt performers were injured in an action scene in June, several requiring treatment for burns). But the project is now in suspended animation.
3. Stranger Things, season five
Filming was set to begin this summer on the Netflix smash. But the writers’ strike meant the cameras didn’t even start rolling. Now all the actors are on the picket line too. The Upside Down has been turned inside out - and we may not return to Hawkins until 2025 at the earliest.
4. The Last of Us, season two
With series one receiving a stonking 24 Emmy nominations, fans were looking forward to a return of the Pedro Pascal/Bella Ramsey tale of mutant mushrooms and a post-apocalyptic North America. The first episode had already been scripted - but now all work was halted. It is likely to be 2025 before we find out what happens to Joel and Ellie.
5. Andor, season two
The good news for Star Wars fans is that screenplays for Tony Gilroy’s gritty Star Wars spin-off had been finished before the writers’ strike. The bad news is that the actors’ strike means filming those scripts is impossible. It is thought unlikely Andor will return by 2024, as was the original goal.
6. Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 movie
Pitt was recently spotted filming at the British Grand Prix for his Apple-backed movie directed by Top Gun Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski. Pitt plays a former Formula 1 ace who comes out of retirement to mentor a raw new talent. The movie, which also stars Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem and Tobias Menzies, doesn’t yet have a name. Production began in early July - but was then suspended as the actors’ strike was called.
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7. Dune: Part Two
The second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the sci-fi classic may be pushed from a scheduled November release date to early 2024. The film is essentially finished. However, under SAG rules, the cast cannot participate in its promotion. Warner Bros is therefore looking at delaying Dune until stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh, are in a position to plug the project.
8. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
James Wan and Jason Momoa reunite for another DC blockbuster, with Ben Affleck cameoing as Batman. However, as with Dune, Warner Bros is considering delaying until next year the completed movie so that the actors are available to promote it.
9. Beetlejuice 2
Michael Keaton and Tim Burton have reunited to make a sequel to the 1989 gothic comedy (also featuring Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega), but, though filming in and around London is complete, a crucial final sequence in Vermont is now on hold.
10. It Ends With Us
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni had already started filming this adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller in Hoboken, New Jersey. The studio behind the production claimed it was an “independent” film and wanted to continue - an assertion rejected by the WGA, forcing all involved to down tools.
10. Yellowjackets, season three
The writers for the 1990s cannibal dramedy had spent exactly one day working on series three when the WGA strike was called. The production has been on hiatus ever since.
11. Emily in Paris, season four
Cynics will say even a Hollywood strike has an upside - no more Emily in Paris for the time being, for example. Fans will disagree and may have their berets in a twist at the prospect of not hearing from Lily Collins and her French friends until 2026.
13. Minecraft
Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, was set to join Steve Carell and Matt Berry in New Zealand next month for Hollywood’s latest video game adaptation. But the game-to-movie has hit pause.
14. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two
He’s scaled tall buildings and clung to speeding planes. But not even Tom Cruise, reuniting with director Christopher McQuarrie, can overcome two Hollywood strikes, and the second half of the new Mission: Impossible is officially on ice.
15. Euphoria, season three
Fresh from stonkingly disastrous Weeknd vanity project The Idol, show-runner Sam Levinson was set to return to his day job steering explicit teen drama Euphoria. With no scripts or actors, the expectation is that the series will not return until 2026 when a fair chunk of the “teenage” cast will be in their thirties.
16. Mortal Kombat 2
Karl Urban, Jessica McNamee, Lewis Tan and Ludi Lin are among the cast of Simon McQuoid’s video game sequel. Or at least they were until the shoot in Queensland, Australia, was suspended with three months to go.
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17. Venom 3
Tom Hardy was due to be joined by Ted Lasso star Juno Temple and Doctor Strange’s Chiwetel Ejiofor for the third in the dark superhero trilogy. But the production in Spain has now halted.
18. Spider-Man 4
Tom Holland had been in talks about returning as Spidey. But now Marvel and Sony - who share the Spider-Man rights - have put that discussion on hold. Holland is also planning to take a year off from acting - another web in which to tangle up poor Spidey.
19: White Lotus, season three
Early filming had started in Thailand in this anthology series about what happens when the super-rich descend on a luxury holiday destination. But everything is now up in the air - White Lotus is shut until further notice.
20. Marvel’s Blade
Fangs a lot Hollywood! The superhero vampire reboot stars Mahershala Ali in the title role alongside Mia Goth and Aaron Pierre. True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto was supposed to be pitching in on the script, but he downed tools with the rest of the writers.
21. Blade Runner 2099
Ridley Scott had teamed up with Amazon for a small screen spin-off to his dystopian “robots have feelings, too” masterpiece, set 50 years after the sequel movie Bladerunner 2049. Ironically, fears over how artificial intelligence will impact the movie industry - a bone of contention in both strikes - means filming has yet to begin (though scripts were completed last year).
22. Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power, season two
Much like Frodo crawling to the top of Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings, this Tolkien prequel may have just about reached its destination - though who knows in what form? The writer’s strike was called with 19 days of filming left. Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay departed the set at Bray Film Studios, Berkshire, immediately, however, it is unclear how this will impact the series.
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23. Wicked
Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Erivo have been shooting the Wizard of Oz prequel in Buckinghamshire for several years, and most of the movie is in the can. But a few scenes were still to be filmed, and it is expected Wicked (to be divided into parts one and two) will be delayed.
24. Thunderbolts
Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were set to star in the Marvel movie about an Avengers-style team-up of anti-heroes. Filming in Atlanta has been postponed.
25. Freaky Friday 2
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are eager to return for a sequel to their 2003 body-swap hit. But Curtis has poured cold water on hopes the film might see daylight shortly. “We’re in the middle of a contract dispute,” she said. “And so, until those writers get paid correctly and protected by the producers that make billions off of them, we will not be able to tell you more about the Freaky Friday sequel, except that it is happening.”
26. The Mandalorian, season four
Grogu can enjoy his extended holiday. The writers’ strike has already pushed back series four of the Disney+ hit. With the actors on the picket line, too, filming won’t start until this November at the earliest.
27. The Penguin
Colin Farrell was on the picket line of the writers’ strike, so it is no surprise his Batman spin-off is on hold. “For 25 years I’ve provided for my family off the backs of the creativity of writers,” said Farrell. “There are no corporations without the revenue that writers give the possibility to make. The business is changing, writers need to be fairly compensated for the beauty of what they do.”
28. Daredevil: Born Again
Charlie Cox was ready to squeeze back into his rubber jumpsuit as superhero/crusading lawyer Matt Murdock. Alas, production halted in June when WGA picketers descended on Marvel’s New York studio at Silvercup East.
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29. Metropolis
An ambitious Apple TV+ remake of the Fritz Lang silent classic, overseen by Mr Robot’s Sam Esmail, has been cancelled as a direct consequence of the writers’ strike. “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing [US writers] strike led to this difficult decision,” a statement from Universal Studio Group, which was overseeing the project, said.
30. Good Fortune
Aziz Ansari was set to begin shooting his directorial debut in Los Angeles Koreatown district in May, but then the writers went on strike. Ansari is starring opposite Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves. But now, the entire project has been suspended.
