The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is going on strike, meaning thousands of Hollywood writers will be leaving the office in favor of the picket line. What exactly does the strike mean for consumers, though? Well, that answer is complicated when we don’t know how long a strike will last, but there absolutely will be an impact.
The WGA board has been negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which bargains on behalf of most of Hollywood's production studios, for weeks now to settle on a new contract. However, the WGA is not satisfied with the negotiations.
In order to gain more leverage and show the AMPTP that they are willing to do whatever it takes to get a fair deal, the WGA is going on strike, something that hasn't been done since 2007-08 in a historic 100-day work stoppage.
So, what does all of this mean for consumers? How does the strike affect all of us at home who just want to turn on the TV at night to catch some Mandalorian before bed? It all depends on the platform and how long the strike lasts, but it’ll no doubt have an impact.
How will the writers' strike affect me today?
In the short-term, several late-night shows have shut down immediately, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show, which will all go into re-runs. NBC told Variety in a statement that Saturday Night Live “will air repeats until further notice starting Saturday, May 6.”
"A lot of television production stops," Professor Aymar Jean Christian, who teaches at Northwestern University's School of Communication, tells IGN. "Particularly late night shows, things that need writers every single night, like The Daily Show. It gets very hard — they need those writers because they are generating scripts every single day. Those productions definitely halt."
Much of the television landscape, though, is scripted — meaning they go off of an established, organized script every single episode. For scripted shows that have already finished production (or are close to finishing production), a strike may not affect their release dates.
In terms of how that impacts things like Marvel and Star Wars, don’t expect Disney+’s Ahsoka to get delayed from its previously announced August 2023 release date. In fact, streaming platforms in particular have a lot of content banked for the rest of the year, meaning Marvel shows like Loki Season 2 and Secret Invasion should be okay, barring major pre-release changes.
"For most people, you probably won't notice it in the next few months on streaming because they have that backlog of stuff they are going to release," Christian says. "It depends on how long the strike lasts. If it lasts six months or longer, what you might notice is that in the months after, you might be thinking: 'Hmm. I feel like there's not a lot of TV to watch! Maybe I'll play video games or go out to the club or whatever!' “
Okay, so what about TV further down the line?
As Christian notes, next year is where it might start getting tricker, even if initial script-writing on television shows have already been completed.
"If something is already written, it can go into production if they don't need writers on set," Christian says. "But, for a lot of television, a lot of writers are on set. They don't direct, but they kind of do, you know."
Take, for instance, shows like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, which are both well into filming in the U.K. Variety reported today that House of the Dragon in particular will not need to halt filming, as the scripts have already been completed.
But even in those cases, where scripts are finished and writers don’t need to be on set, complications could arise, especially in the case of multi-hyphenate creatives. While directors and producers continue their work during a WGA strike, the union prohibits members from any work that could be considered writing, including script changes.
“The Guild strongly believes that no member should cross a WGA picket line or enter the premises of a struck company for any purpose. Under applicable law, however, the Guild may not discipline a hyphenate for performing purely non-writing services,” the guild states in its rules, referring to writers who are employed in dual capacities. “But if a hyphenate performs writing services… for a struck company, or negotiates a new assignment for writing services… the hyphenate will be subject to Guild discipline under the Strike Rules and the Guild’s Constitution and By-Laws.”
That means even productions where the scripts are finished could be in danger if, say, something happens like an actor getting injured, necessitating a script rewrite. And different creatives are handling it in different capacities; IGN has learned that Rings of Power showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will not be on set for the final 19 days of filming Season 2, with non-writing directors, producers, and crew overseeing production.
House of the Dragon, meanwhile, has executive producer Ryan Condol still on the set, according to Variety. But, with scripts already finished, he's reportedly working in a strictly non-writing capacity.
In general, shows where the scripts have been completed are in better shape to continue on during a strike.
Over the weekend, Andor writer/showrunner Tony Gilroy said at an FYC event attended by IGN that he finished Season 2 scripts just days before the strike, so it could keep its previously announced August 2024 release window. Production, however, is scheduled to last through August, meaning it could still need changes that would be considered writing. Variety reports that Gilroy is still working on production but, like Condal, in a non-writing capacity.
As for the rest of the Star Wars lineup, the Jude Law-starring Skeleton Crew finished initial filming back in January and is scheduled to hit Disney+ sometime this year, so it should be in pretty solid shape. Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte was scheduled to finish filming this month, and a source tells IGN that it shouldn’t be too impacted by the strike. That series just has a general 2024 release window.
But one thing’s for sure: work on additional seasons of any of the aforementioned shows would not be able to happen during a strike, and shows that are still in the writing process could be in danger of being pushed back. That includes a series like The Last of Us Season 2, which Neil Druckmann recently said was “months” away from beginning production. The last season of Netflix’s hit Stranger Things was also scheduled to begin shooting in June, according to David Harbour, which means it’s also not necessarily in the safety zone.
Cobra Kai showrunner Jon Hurwitz, meanwhile, tweeted that it was “pencils down” in the Season 6 writers’ room, which, depending on how long the strike lasts, could very well impact production. And Yellowjackets writer Ashley Lyle tweeted that "we had exactly one day" in the Season 3 writers' room before a strike was called.
Well, what about movies?
Like television, the short-term won’t be impacted too much. Movies coming out over the summer and in the rest of the year, like The Marvels and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, should keep their release dates, as production has long been finished.
But that certainly doesn’t mean movies further down the line won’t be impacted, as they were during the 2007-08 strike. Rather infamously, Daniel Craig said previously that James Bond movie Quantum of Solace was rushed into production with “a bare bones of a script” before that strike kicked off, leaving production “fucked.”
“There was me trying to rewrite scenes — and a writer I am not,” Craig said.
Looking at things like James Gunn and Peter Safran’s revamped DCU, Gunn’s already finished the script for Superman: Legacy and entered pre-production, as he announced in April. Other projects announced as part of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, like The Authority and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, will not be able to push forward with writing duties during a strike.
Star Wars, meanwhile, may be more affected on the movie front than on the television one. Even though Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told IGN at last month’s Star Wars Celebration that the three newly announced live-action Star Wars movies are “pretty far along” in development, they’re all still in the writing process. But, given that we didn’t have even a hint of a release date for those movies yet anyway, any changes will likely happen behind the scenes.
As Marvel has announced release dates for Phase 5 movies, any changes in its production due to the strike may be more noticeable. This includes projects like Thunderbolts, Blade (which just last week brought on True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto for writing duties), and Avengers: Kang Dynasty.
Basically, if it sounds like there’s a lot of “what if”s here, that’s because there is, as so much depends on how long the strike will last.
How could it change the industry at large?
While fans are no doubt wondering how a strike will affect Marvel and Star Wars, if the 2007-08 strike is any indication, the impacts on the industry at large could be much more interesting. In general, the WGA is known for standing its ground until they get concessions from producers, meaning studios find new ways to adapt. In 2007-08, for example, it ushered in the rise of reality TV.
"Basically, [the strike] causes a huge slowdown," Christian explains. "The outgrowth of the last one, which was a really long strike, is a lot of shows got canceled. Afterwards, the industry kind of tripled down on reality TV production because it's cheaper and they don't need writers. And I fear that that's going to be the consequence of this one because studios are in worse shape financially than when they were back then."
In short, the sooner the WGA and AMPTP can reach a deal, the better – but that’s just one of the many unknowns facing this latest work stoppage.
“By 2024, I think we might be looking at a media landscape where we get substantially less than we have before,” Christian says. “And that's not been the case for well over a decade so it's going to be interesting."