Hollywood is . Actors and screenwriters are months into a dual strike. Film sets are dark. But the movies are still coming 鈥� or, at least, most of them. Even if that means some potentially solitary red-carpet walks.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping I鈥檓 not promoting the movie by myself,鈥� says Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming Marvel movie (Nov. 10). 鈥淣o one鈥檚 there to see me, either. They鈥檙e going to be like, 鈥榃here鈥檚 Brie Larson?鈥欌��
Though the ongoing actors and screenwriters strikes are casting a pall over the fall movie season and , a parade of awards contenders and autumn blockbusters are on the way, nevertheless.
The fall has long been the preferred domain of filmmakers and auteurs, but this year that鈥檚 doubly so. With cast members largely prevented from promotion duties, directors 鈥� whether helming an Oscar shoo-in or superhero blockbuster 鈥� are carrying the load, albeit very reluctantly.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e now in a new world,鈥� DaCosta says of the strike. 鈥淓verything that鈥檚 happening is an existential search that our industry is doing. It won鈥檛 be solved in one round of negotiations. But I鈥檓 hoping that the studios can end the strike soon and get us all back to work 鈥� to work for them.鈥�
Up until now, the ongoing stalemate has had a modest effect on late-summer movie releases. carried theaters through August.
But now that the strikes have rounded Labor Day, with no end in sight, Hollywood鈥檚 high season is imperiled. It has already of much of its star power and will soon do the same to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Can you launch an Oscar campaign without its potential nominee? How about a global spectacle without its cast? Everyone is hoping the strikes ends soon, but it鈥檚 clear that, not long after COVID-19 upended the industry, the usual rhythms of the fall movie season have again been blown to smithereens.
Much is in flux. is in. is out. Release-date jockeying continues. But for many of the filmmakers releasing films in the coming months, even their own movies aren鈥檛 the top concern.
鈥淭his fall is such an exciting time for movies. I just want to see every movie coming out,鈥� says Emerald Fennell, whose high-society satire opens Nov. 24. 鈥淏ut for the industry to be sustainable 鈥� for it to be much more accessible to people, for it to be better paid for everyone at every single level 鈥� that鈥檚 the thing. That鈥檚 the priority as far as I鈥檓 concerned.鈥�
Screenwriters have been on strike for four months. The guild鈥檚 representatives with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, in August. But no breakthrough has followed. Instead, both sides have publicly sparred, dimming hopes that summer would end with a deal.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists began its work stoppage on Jul 14. The AMPTP has yet to reengage the guild鈥檚 leadership in talks.
As time has dragged on and picket lines have kept up the pressure, what may have once seemed like a disagreement over a handful of issues has swelled into over the future of and with
For now, the strikes are leaving festival stages unusually bare and red-carpet premieres quiet or non-existent. Such a prospect has forced some films out of 2023, including two starring Zendaya. 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� and 鈥淐hallengers鈥� , as has the 鈥淲onder鈥� spinoff 鈥淲hite Bird.鈥�
Many of the fall鈥檚 top titles have stayed put or shuffled backward, hoping resolution comes in early autumn. Those include late October releases like (in theaters Oct. 20) and November entries like the prequel (Nov. 17) and Ridley Scott鈥檚 (Nov. 22), with Joaquin Phoenix.
Meanwhile, the campaigns for some potential Academy Awards contenders such as Colman Domingo (George C. Wolfe鈥檚 ; in theaters Nov. 3, on Netflix Nov. 17) and Paul Giamatti (Alexander Payne鈥檚 ; in theaters Oct. 27, expands Nov. 10) will get underway without either present to take a bow.
To Payne, whose film co-stars newcomer Dominic Sessa and Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph, that loss is heartbreaking.
鈥淯nlike stage actors or musicians in concerts who get to have that feeling of completion with the audience, in film we don鈥檛 have that,鈥� says Payne. 鈥淭he only time you can kind of tiptoe up to that feeling of having a communication with an audience is at a festival or an early screening. It would have been really luscious for Paul, Dominic, Da鈥橵ine and all the actors to go and have that rush, seeing it with audience and hear the laughs.鈥�
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