Tayyaba
The red carpets are rolling up in Hollywood as the SAG-AFTRA strike begins to take its toll. The first casualty was the Special Ops: Lioness premiere, which was canceled at the last minute. Now, just days later, the Oppenheimer premiere in New York has also been axed. These cancellations are a definite sign of the growing impact of the strike on the film industry and with more and more productions being affected, it is clear that this is no ordinary labor dispute.
What do we know about the SAG-AFTRA strike and how is it affecting ‘Oppenheimer’?
Being the first major Hollywood strike since 2008, the SAG-AFTRA strike went into effect at midnight on Friday and actors immediately took to the picket line. The union’s 160,000 members are prohibited from all principal on-camera and off-camera work, including voice-acting and narration. They are also barred from participating in promotional activity, such as premieres, interviews, festivals, FYC events, award shows, and podcasts. The London premiere of Oppenheimer was barely completed in time before the strike went into effect. Universal moved the carpet time up by an hour to allow the starry cast to take photos and do interviews. However, the stars including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Cillian Murphy exited the event before the screening when the strike was called.
Now, the red carpet in New York City has been fully cancelled with the filmmakers releasing this statement:
“In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of Oppenheimer will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film.”
The filmmakers of ‘Oppenheimer’ and Universal
What other films have been affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike?
As we know the premiere for Special Ops: Lioness, which was scheduled for July 18 in L.A, was scrapped – with stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Kelly participating in the strike. Aside from this, Starz canceled its Minx red carpet in Los Angeles as well, which was scheduled for July 17. Instead, the event will feature a post-screening crafts panel. Apple also canceled the New York premiere of The Beanie Bubble, which was scheduled for July 18 and was to feature Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks. Although keep in mind, not every studio is being respectful of the strike. Disney is choosing to move forward without it’s stars with it’s Haunted Mansion premiere at Disneyland on Saturday.