As the SAG-AFTRA strike begins, multiple blockbusters shut down production. THR reports that several Hollywood tentpoles for the 2024 release calendar have stopped shooting due to the guild’s strike commencing this morning. That includes “Mission Impossible 8,” “Deadpool 3,” Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2,” and “Vemon 3,” among others. Other titles in production right now, like “Beetlejuice 2” and Clint Eastwood‘s “Juror #2” have also reportedly shut down, but THR doesn’t have official confirmation on those yet.
READ MORE: SAG-AFTRA National Board Approves Strike, Joining WGA Guild Members On The Picket Lines
So as the WGA writers strike brought the TV industry and multiple movies to a halt, the SAG-AFTRA strike causes even further stoppage. However, the two guild strike won’t keep studios, like Marvel Studios, from trying to move forward on projects already in post-production. Marvel head Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito emailed employees about the strike Thursday afternoon. “We recognize how much you’ve all done on your specific projects and it’s disappointing when carefully laid plans have to shift,” the pair wrote, “but constant change is the nature of the production business, and our teams are no stranger to unexpected challenges and rising to meet them. We deeply appreciate all your efforts to make the best of the situation, and we can all hope that a new agreement will be finalized soon so we can resume the great work we have in process.”
But even if Marvel and other major studios move ahead with projects in post-production, it’s safe to expect that the SAG-AFTRA strike will cause havoc with the release calendars for 2024 and beyond. If both strike continue through the end of the summer, it’s very likely “Deadpool 3” will miss its May 3, 2024 release date, and “Mission: Impossible 8” its June 28, 2024 debut. In both cases, missing those dates would be dire for Marvel and Paramount. Look back at how long “Top Gun: Maverick” was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic: if “M:I 8” misses its Summer 2024 theatrical window, it’s entirely possible Paramount delays it for another year to 2025.
And strike-related delays could force Marvel to shuffles around its release schedule yet another time this year. “Deadpool 3” is scheduled to kicko off the Phase 5 movies for Marvel in 2024, with “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts” following on July 26, 2024 and December 20, 2024 respectively. But if Shawn Levy‘s film gets postponed, expect the other two films to get pushed back, too. And also means “Blade,” now due in theaters on February 14, 2025, will likely get delayed again, and so on down the line to Phase 6 releases. But Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series for 2024 like “Agatha: Coven Of Chaos” and “Ironheart,” already in post-production, may reach audiences on time. “Daredevil: Born Again,” on the other hand, likely won’t, as it’s still in production.
So will the delays caused by both guild strikes affect Hollywood’s entire theatrical release calendar? Not necessarily. Animators could bring in non-SAG-AFTRA actors to record temporary line readings to stay on target in production, with cast actors coming in after the strike to record their lines. That would leave only actors coming in to record final dialogue left before prepping a film for theatrical release. Of course, the strike needs to end for that to happen. Animated films slated for 2024 debuts include “Kung Fu Panda 4” on March 8, “Despicable Me 4” on July 3, and “Transformers One” on September 3. And there’s also “Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse” with its June 3, 2024 release date, but many predict (given the horror stories published about production on “Across The Spider-Verse“) that film will hit delays.
No one knows how long the WGA or SAG-AFTRA strikes will last. But the longer they do, the more shifts moviegoers should expect in Hollywood’s upcoming release schedule. But with “Deadpool 3” halted, MCU fans should expect even more schedule changes to Phase 5 and 6 in the coming weeks. And if “M:I 8” gets delayed past a Summer 2024 release, Paramount may postpone its theatrical rollout for that one until Summer 2025. Fall 2024 releases like “Gladiator 2” are more likely to stay on target for their theatrical debuts for now; but as stated earlier, the longer both strikes continue, the more delays are likely to happen.
