Hollywood Strike Looms

August 27th, 2007 in Actors, Box Office, Directors, Movie News

IGN has posted a detailed report of the status of several pictures as Hollywood braces for a hurricane of strikes in the coming months.

What could Hollywood - the all-powerful billion-dollar industry which finances slews of multi-million dollar flicks a season - fear from a strike? Well, unfortunately the strike applies to the Guilds - all three of them - including the Writer’s Guild, the Director’s Guild and the Screen Actor’s Guild. These three organizations stand to deal a paralyzing blow to Hollywood if their demands aren’t met or at least heard.

The Writer’s Guild wants continuing compensation for their work, instead of a now-standard one-time fee. Think of it this way - you finally sell that TV screenplay which turns into a popular show - wouldn’t you want to see money from syndication, DVD sales and online play? Technology changes have completely changed the face of these negotiations.

The WGA deal runs out in October, though apparently talks are underway for an extension. But no extension can take the place of negotiations, especially when the Screen Actor’s Guild and Director’s Guild of America contend with contract expirations at the end of next June.

Read on to learn how this could effect the movies you watch.

So how is this effecting the movie-goer? Well, it could determine just what movies you see on the big screen - not to mention just how good they are.

According to the L.A. Times, many projects are in race to start filming by March 1st of next year to beat the majority of the deadlines in June. The cited pictures in this boat include Land of the Lost, Fantasy Island, Nottingham, the Da Vinci Code prequel Angels and Demons and last, but certainly not least, Justice League of America.  

The latter is already ruffling quite a few features behind the scene. Christian Bale isn’t too sure he likes another Batman film interfereing with the gritty mythos established in Batman Begins and Dark Knight, and rumor has it Chris Nolan isn’t too happy either. Considering most of the above films are to some degree “family friendly” and Bale’s Batman is a darker shade of PG-13, his concerns aren’t irrational for the vague Justice League picture.

Expect this strike to also take an unintended toll on how directors and actors participate in their shoots. Ron Howard and Ridley Scott are shooting picture after picture, while Paul Greengrass is struggling to nail down a time for Matt Damon - who may already be over-booked - to star in his Imperial Life in the Emerald City, while the Bourne Ultimatum star must also fulfill obligations to Steven Soderbergh and Darren Afonofsky.

As Paramount production chief Brad Weston said, “The next four weeks are really critical. . . . Movies are coming together and falling apart by the day.”

To anyone and everyone reading this, keep your eyes peeled in every entertainment trade and blog you read - I have a feeling its going to be quite a madcap movie season approaching us - one where meltdown and blow-outs behind the scenes might effect the very big budget explosions you see on the screen.

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