The Hollywood actors strikes appears to be over. Here’s what happens now
After an industry-wide shutdown lasting 118 days, it looks like it’s finally time to call “Action!” in Hollywood once again.
US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has now agreed a “tentative deal” with Hollywood studio bosses, with picket locations now officially closed.
The announcement comes after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) agreed a deal in September following the separate 148-day writers strike.
There are a couple of steps that need to happen before the deal becomes official, with the national SAG-AFTRA board set to review the agreement before details are released and the guild’s full membership takes a vote.
However, when striking screenwriters reached their deal in September, writing work was allowed to resume before full ratification of the contract was complete.
As Hollywood looks set to get back to work, here’s what to expect.
Film and TV production
Production is likely to resume on Deadpool 3, starring Ryan Reynolds. Pic: AP
Production on films and TV shows is expected to start momentarily following the end of the strike. But while the deal means work can now resume, don’t expect a flurry of shows and films to come out straight away – after a delay of several months it will take time for the industry to get back to normal, and viewers may continue to feel the effects for months, if not years.
Much-anticipated films including Deadpool 3, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel will likely be among the first films that will resume production.
Work on season five of hit ’80s sci-fi series Stranger Things was also paused, and the cast of Wicked, which includes Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey, were days away from completing the film before the announcement.
Stranger Things was among the hit shows put on hold during the strikes. Pic: Tina Rowden/Netflix
Production on upcoming seasons of other hit shows, including The Handmaid’s Tale and The Last Of Us, was also put on hold.
The resolution of the writers strike allowed script work to resume on shows such as Abbott Elementary, The White Lotus and Yellowjackets – and this head-start might help those productions get back on the air sooner once their stars are cleared to work.
Television moves faster than film – as one once filming ends on films there is still a lengthy editing and promotional process.
In recent weeks before the announcement of the resolution, more shows and films announced delays – Kevin Costner’s final episodes of Yellowstone won’t air until November 2024, and the next Mission: Impossible film has also been postponed.
Red carpet glam
Oppenheimer stars Rami Malek, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy had to walk out of the UK premiere as the strike was announced
It wasn’t just work on production itself that was put on hold – members of SAG-AFTRA, which represents around 160,000 workers in the industry, were also barred from publicising any of their upcoming projects.
This means that for months, film and TV premieres have either been called off, or gone ahead without their stars, and you will have seen very few actors giving interviews about their acting work. Striking actors were even warned not to dress up as popular film or TV characters at Halloween.
The much-anticipated premiere of Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer was scheduled on 14 July, the day the actors strike was announced – forcing stars including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon to walk off the red carpet.
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Sky News speaks to Oppenheimer stars shortly before strike announcement
Now, promo can go ahead as planned – so we’re expecting to see a flurry of red carpet announcements as studios rush to show off their stars once again.
The strike also affected international film festivals such as Venice and Toronto – and during the London Film Festival in October, director Martin Scorsese said he was “disappointed” that the stars of his latest film, Killers Of The Flower Moon, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, could not attend.
The end of the strike means festivals such as Sundance, Berlin and Cannes can go ahead as planned at the beginning of 2024.
Some projects were given exemptions, such as Michael Mann’s upcoming racing drama Ferrari, for which stars Adam Driver and Patrick Dempsey were able to attend the Venice Film Festival – and also allowed Dempsey to do an interview with People magazine when it named him its Sexiest Man Alive.
Does this affect the Oscars or other awards shows?
The Emmy Awards, which usually take place in September, were called off due to the strikes. A new date was set for 15 January, and it looks like the ceremony will now be able to go ahead on this date.
As most of the awards ceremonies take place between January and April, events including the big one, the Oscars, can now take place as planned without any changes.
What does the deal mean?
SAG-AFTRA says the deal is worth more than a billion dollars and includes compensation increases, consent protections for use of artificial intelligence and actors’ likenesses, and a “streaming participation bonus”.
The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers says the “tentative agreement represents a new paradigm”, and that studios are offering actors “the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union, including the largest increase in minimum wages in the last 40 years”.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s executive director and chief negotiator, says the gains have made the strike worthwhile.
What’s next?
Well… it might not all be over just yet. In fact, there could be another actors strike – this time by video game performers. Negotiations for this contract are ongoing, but a shutdown has been authorised.
Actors who work on video games range from voice performers to stunt performers, and like SAG-AFTRA members have expressed concerns about the use of AI in their industry.
Studios will also be negotiating with set workers and their guild, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, in 2024. IATSE members work on everything from set-building to lighting and creating effects, and so are crucial to film and television production. They have been severely impacted by the filming shutdown already, with some members joining the picket lines in the writers and actors strikes.
And other sectors of the industry have moved to unionise as the actors and writers strikes have played out. Some reality television workers are calling for a union, while visual effects artists who work on Marvel films voted to join IATSE.
So while Hollywood loves a happy ending, there could be a sequel to come.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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