As the strike continues to paralyze Hollywood, Sony Pictures is adjusting the release date of its productions. Due to the social movement, many actors who are members of the SAG-AFTRA union can no longer appear on camera. But the obligations of the actors do not stop there. The latter are also prohibited from appearing on the red carpets and from promoting their next projects, from participating in festivals… The effects of this blackout completely upset the agenda of cinematographic programming.
Spider-Man – Beyond The Spider-Verse, the highly anticipated sequel to Spider-Man – Across The Spider-Verse, released in France on May 31, will not hit theaters on March 29, 2024, as planned. For the moment, no new launch date has been communicated, the major examining several alternative slots for its animated film. The final decision will depend on the evolution of the actors’ strike and, in this case, on the availability of the latter to carry out the dubbing and promotion of the project. The stakes are high for Sony because the first two parts of the saga had garnered nearly 400 million dollars in revenue for New Generation and already nearly 700 million for Across The Spider-Verse, still showing.
Another Marvel-inspired film, Kraven The Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, was supposed to be released on the big screen on October 6 but has now been postponed to August 30, 2024, so that the British actor can promote it. Another project on which the studios are betting a lot, Gran Turismo, with Orlando Bloom, was to arrive in dark rooms from August 9 in France and August 11 in North America. The American public will finally have to wait two more weeks to discover the film inspired by the video game. In the United States, spectators will still be able to attend the previews of Gran Turismo on August 11 and 18. But it is difficult to know if this postponement is due to the strike in Hollywood or the heightened competition which is hitting cinemas this summer, with in particular the battle between Barbie and Oppenheimer.
As for the release of the next Ghostbusters, worn by Mckenna Grace Bill Murray and scheduled for December 20, 2023, it will be postponed to March 29. Sony is also changing the release schedule for sequels to two highly anticipated projects. The comedy Bad Boys, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, will arrive in France on June 14, 2024. And the third opus of the antihero Venom, played by Tom Hardy, will be released in theaters on July 12, 2024.
Since the start of the strike last month, filming for this new Marvel adaptation in Spain has been on hold. The social movement is also upsetting the television series agenda. In Murder at the End of the World, the Disney series which was to be released on the Hulu streaming platform on August 29, will not be available until November 2023. Over the course of the seven episodes, the public will discover a 5-star cast with Emma Corrin, Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson, Brit Marling, Alice Braga and Joan Chen.
For the first time in 63 years, the actors joined the screenwriters on July 14, who have been on strike since May 1. The 160,000 actors are demanding salary increases, at half mast since the arrival of streaming platforms. They also want to obtain guarantees regarding the arrival of artificial intelligence in the sector, and to protect themselves so that it does not generate scripts or clone their voice and image.