The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes continue to go strong, with major stars like Colin Farrell, Rosario Dawson, and Adam Scott showing up on picket lines and other A-listers showing support in various ways. (There’s even an official uniform of strikers: the sleeveless shirt).
The writers strike halted production on many high-profile television shows, and the SAG-AFTRA strike had a similar effect on notable film productions including Deadpool 3 and Brad Pitt’s untitled Formula 1 film, but now the strike appears to be making an impact on movies that were already slated for release.
Outlets are even starting to report the possibility of a “strike-induced hangover” at the box office following the mammoth commercial success of Barbie and Oppenheimer, despite reinvigorating American interest in going to the theater. Below are some of the most notable movies that have reportedly seen their release dates pushed because of the strikes. GQ will continue to update this piece as more information is released.
With Luca Guadagnino at the helm and Zendaya starring , and a spicy trailer that immediately got everyone worked up, Challengers had all the makings of a fall hit, with a September 15 release date and a coveted debut slot at the Venice International Film Festival. But the tennis drama has been pushed back to April 2024 and had its planned premiere scrapped as a result of the strike.
The movie’s original release date had it coming on the heels of the 2023 U.S. Open and April is not a month with significant tennis tournaments, but the direct ties to the sport might not matter much. As Faist told Empire, “[Luca] had no knowledge of tennis going into this. And I think he had only a vague interest in certain tennis specificities. He was more interested in the bodies and sweat.”
The much-anticipated debutt feature film from Saturday Night Live writer and comedian Julio Torres has been delayed indefinitely. Problemista, which stars Torres himself alongside Tilda Swinton, RZA, and Greta Lee, was originally due out on August 4, and premiered at South by Southwest several months ago. Early buzz for the movie is largely positive, with praise given to its surrealist urban satire and the performance of Swinton in particular. Problemista is slated to be the first A24 film with a Latinx star/writer to receive a theatrical release. Notably, actors received approval from SAG-AFTRA to keep working on a handful of independent films amidst the strike, including two A24 projects, because the Academy Award-winning production company isn’t part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. According to a July 21 Instagram post, Torres appears to be the driving force behind delaying the movie as he wrote, “Establishing one’s dignity as an artist in the face of unfair systems is in the heart of this movie, this decision and most importantly this moment,” while noting that A24 supported the choice.
The spin-off to 2017’s massively successful Wonder sees veteran director Marc Forster leading a cast featuring Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson, young actor Ariella Glaser, and Bryce Gheisar from the original film. White Bird tells the story of a young woman who, with the help of a French family, hides from the Nazis during World War II. Even before the dual strikes, White Bird had been delayed several times from its original planned release in September 2022. The last concrete release date was August 18 in limited and the following week in theatrical, but its now due for an unspecified release in the fourth quarter of 2023.
A proper sequel to 1987’s smash hit Dirty Dancing has been in the works for years, but fans will have to wait a little longer to see Jennifer Grey reprise her iconic role as Frances “Baby” Houseman. Jonathan Levine’s film will be pushed from a February 2024 release date to sometime in the summer of 2025. In 2022, Variety reported that the team on the sequel were in talks with the estate of the late Patrick Swayze about potentially working his character Johnny Castle into the film.
The much-memed Marvel movie from J.C. Chandor saw its release date pushed from October 6 of this year to August, 30, 2024., with concern regarding star Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s availability to do press for the project, which doesn’t boast the same consumer recognition as more name brand superheroes. Kraven also stars Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, and Christopher Abbott.
Netflix Originals
According to What’s on Netflix, the embattled streamer is delaying a handful of original projects in the aftermath of the strike. These include the stacked romcom A Family Affair, which stars Joey King, Zac Efron, and Nicole Kidman; Millie Bobby Brown’s action fantasy flick Damsel Oscar winner Regina King’s Shirley Chisholm biopic, and Johan Renck’s galactic drama Spaceman, which features an incredible cast including Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano, and Isabella Rossellini. All of these movies were originally slated for 2023 release, and have been delayed to 2024 without specific dates.