Some Big Movies Might Have Their Releases Delayed Because the Studios Won't Pay Their Creatives

The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have inspired a wave of support among creatives, audiences, critics, and many more. The gross inaction of the studios has become all the more evident as major stars share online the paltry residuals they’ve received for years of work. Every revelation of the studios’ responses to perfectly reasonable demands has revealed them to be villains so cartoonish that, were a well-paid writer to put them in a script, they’d be told it was unrealistic.

The studios and the major trades, most of which are owned by one company with ties to the corporations being struck, have been less than subtle in trying to shift the blame toward the workers. They’ve been blamed for trying to sink Los Angeles’ economy, as if they weren’t the beating heart of the city’s economy. There’s definitely an effort to get general audiences to stomp their feet and get mad at the strikers for robbing them of precious content. The latest move, as reported by Variety, might be to delay the releases of various highly-anticipated films because of the studios’ refusal to pay their writers and actors fairly.

According to various sources close to the eternal trash fire that is Warner Bros. Film Group, films like Dune 2 might see their releases shoved back to 2024. The studio, currently run by cultural vandal and Captain Planet villain of the week David Zaslav, is also allegedly assessing new release dates for the musical adaptation of The Color Purple and the superhero sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Spokespeople for Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment declined to comment on the matter for Variety, and the publication was keen to note that ‘another source familiar with Warner Bros. said that releases are moving forward as originally planned and no formal discussions have been had.’ So this is not set in stone. The article, objectively speaking, seems to suggest that some are afraid but it’s not across the board. Of course, the flashier headline is what gets shit done.

If Warner Bros. and other studios don’t want to lose money with these delays then maybe they should, you know, appropriately compensate the people who did all the work and are expected to promote it for months on end. We know how wildly expensive it is to do the latter. Not every studio or company will foot the bill for worldwide travel, endless designer outfit changes, and hotel stays. Some actors have contracts with fashion houses but not all, and having to keep up with the expectations of 24/7 glamour and ‘representing your studio’ seriously adds up. How the hell do you do that with $27 residual cheques?

The push to get general viewers mad at the sudden cut-off of precious content feels like an outdated move too. This isn’t the 2007/8 writers’ strikes. We’re in a streaming age, which the studios are eager to pretend is a ceaseless goldmine without ever revealing viewership numbers to back that claim up. Oh, there’s no new Dune movie in cinemas right now? Okay, I’ll go watch one of the hundreds of things I’m trying to catch up on, or put on a DVD, or watch YouTube, or go walk with children in nature. Besides, why would the ardent fans you want to keep on your side by willing to ally themselves with the goons who keep canceling their favourite shows, underpay their favourite actors, and delete entire series and movies from existence for a tax break? It’s a serious failing of your business model when the average person knows who David Zaslav is and why he sucks.

Solidarity with the striking workers!