WGA Strike Results in Production Halt of Shows & Movies: The WGA’s strike is now a reality and not just a spanner in the works. From 1 May, more than 12,000 members of the WGA have refused to go to work and are sitting on an indefinite strike. Something of this magnitude and gravity happened almost fifteen years ago, in 2007-08 when the WGA went on strike for 105 days and disrupted industry dynamics. The current strike is poised to wreak havoc in industry economics and throw Hollywood into an uncertain future ahead. We have not even completed a week of the strike, and many film productions and regular television broadcasts have already halted.
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All the Late Night shows and SNL went dark right after the first day. They are on a hiatus as of now, with no indication of what the status will be going. The latest victim of the strike is Marvel’s Blade reboot which was set to take off with Mahershala Ali donning the iconic role played by Wesley Snipes in the original movie franchise. This marks the first casualty for Marvel, and many suspect this might not be the last. The preproduction has been completely shut down and will only begin after the strike is over. Despite this, Marvel has not indicated a status update on its other ongoing projects.
Deadpool 3, Captain America: New World Order, and Agatha: Coven of Chaos are all currently filming without halts. That might be a positive turn on things but does not change the fundamental impact of the strike. Showtime’s Billions, which is another popular television series, has also halted production since Thursday. Yellowjackets also postponed episode 6 of its second season by a fortnight. The show has already been green-lit for a third season, but Ashley Lyle has expressed concerns in the context of the ongoing strike.
There is also a sentiment of expressing solidarity with the strike among many creators. Jon Hurwitz, Ashley Lyle, all the Late Night Show Hosts, and Rob Lowe have all taken to Twitter to put “the pencils down” until a “fair deal is in place.” Here is the latest about all the tv shows and movies that have halted production due to the WGA strike. We will keep updating this list as more content gets paused.
Cobra Kai
The hit Netflix show was supposed to begin its sixth and final season after being green-lit back in January of this year. The strike means that the show has stopped production indefinitely and will remain suspended until the strike is in place.
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Yellowjackets
The Showtime show is currently in season 2, with four more episodes to go. Creator Ashley Lyle indicated in a recent Tweet that production on season 3 has not started. The writing room only met for a single day before putting their “pencils down.”
Good Omens
The highly anticipated season 2 of Neil Gaiman’s novel adaptation was a long time coming. It was set to release this year, but the same has been halted for now due to the strike.
Rap Sh!t
Issa Rae’s successful HBO show was renewed for season 2 last year but has run into production problems and remains in abeyance for now. This is also a show of solidarity from Rae and the other creative personnel for the strike.
Abbott Elementary
ABC’s new hit sitcom also hit the pause button after the strike was confirmed. The studio has not been immune to the ongoing problems, like many other cable networks. Production on season 3 was set to begin later this year.
Anne Rice series and Walking Dead spinoff
AMC has confirmed that it has put on hold the plans to develop another Anna Rice series that was in the works for some months. The Walking Dead spinoff is set to go ahead as planned in June this year, so are season 2 of Interview with the Vampire and season 1 of The Mayfair Witches.
Unstable
Rob Lowe was one of the first to take to the streets to support the strike. Unstable, a delightful Netflix offering, was due for renewal for season 2. Back in the first week, it was reported that the second season (yet to renew officially) of production had been shut down due to the writer’s strike.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Season 2 of Rings of Power might be affected due to the falling out of certain high-level executives at Prime Video. The strike has added to the production woes, which has not been “materially affected,” as Prime revealed in a statement.
Big Mouth
Season 7 of the animated series has been halted due to the strike, which was renewed earlier this year.
Blade
The Marvel movie became the first victim of the franchise after the studios completely halted the preproduction process on this one.
SNL and Late Night Shows
These were the first casualties in the battle. The halts were announced on the very first day when the strike materialized.
