Barbenheimer escapes brunt of Hollywood halt
Days before the release of Oppenheimer, filmmaker Christopher Nolan made it clear that he would not work on another film till the historic, ongoing double strike of Hollywood writers and actors ended. The stars of his twelfth directorial left the July 13 London premiere midway as a sign of protest. The biopic may still bring home USD 80 million in the first three days of its release, as per film journal Deadline. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is doing even better, set to clock in $150 million in three days. While Gerwig’s partner and co-creator, Noah Baumbach, skipped the film premiere, Gerwig supported the strike: “Nothing in Hollywood happens without writers.”
One of the biggest summer weekends in Hollywood, dubbed “Barbenheimer”, has come just as the actors—members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)—voted to join Writers Guild of America in fighting the studios and streamers represented by Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The dispute concerns the demand for fair contracts and payments, an equitable share of profits, improved work conditions, and opposition to the spectre of AI replacing human talent.
While the two blockbusters have escaped the strike’s effects, uncertainty looms large for forthcoming films. It’s not just about actors joining the picket lines and refusing to work for companies like Disney and Netflix, but also the guild guidelines which deny their participation in film promotions in any manner, be it attending red-carpet premieres, giving interviews across media, or publishing social media posts. How will it affect the fate of The Haunted Mansion, slated for a July 28 release, or Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part II in October and November, respectively? How will the big fall fests—Telluride, Venice, and Toronto—get impacted?
Also, Deepika Padukone, a member of the SAG-AFTRA, won’t be participating in the launch of the upcoming Project K at the San Diego Comic-Con in the USA. The Hollywood calendar is set to turn upside down, with film shoots and production work on hold and release dates likely to get shuffled. But it’s a small price to pay for the larger good of the filmmaking community. As Nolan told BBC: “This is about jobbing actors; this is about staff writers on television programmes trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table.” Where does Hollywood go from here?