Some bad, bad news came out of the New York Times this weekend - the looming writer’s strike might actually be happening sooner than some anticipated, and, it could affect up to 75% of the 150 or so films that are candidates for production by early next year.  Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America West and East have been apparently taking a good hard look at the films, and according to anonymous sources involved, are looking at how they could inflict maximum damage should a contract not be settled by the October 31st expiration date.

The Writer’s Guild is now considering whether they could cause more harm by striking immediately, rather than continuing to work and allowing the studios to add the films to their strike stockpile.   Amongst the most prominent projects that could be affected are “Another Night”, The Justice League of America”, and the sequel to “Night at the Museum”.  None of those appear to have final scripts.

Negotiators for the Guild may ask their 12,000+ members for strike authorization in advance of the contract’s expiration, ensuring a smooth walk-out when the contract expires.  It now appears that they are preparing for a November walk-out, rather than later, when the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America will also be in talks (their contracts expire in June 2008).

The studios, however, don’t seem all that concerned.  According to a spokesman for the producers’ alliance, “Every studio and every network has contingency plans”, and those plans “assume there could be a walkout on Oct. 31.”

If the writers were able to strike before scripts are finalized and delivered, with tens of millions of dollars already spent, they could lose the studios hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue.

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