Hollywood Studios Set to Fast-Track Production of Hit Shows After Strike Concludes

Hollywood studios will immediately start hiring screenwriters right after the Writers Guild of America concluded their strike against the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers earlier this week.

Major franchise films and other planned broadcast projects can now resume pre-production after the WGA ratifies the new and adjusted Minimum Basic Agreement they earned while negotiating with the AMPTP during the strike. This is to catch up for lost time since the strike momentarily halted the progress of projected blockbusters that Hollywood has in store for the immediate future.

Coming soon

The most immediate options for audiences to catch new episodes from Hollywood media could be from late-night talk shows. 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon', 'Late Night with Seth Meyers', 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' and 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' are all slated to return on October 2, Monday, with all new episodes according to their social media pages. Meanwhile, 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' returns with a new episode to HBO this Sunday.

All hosts of the aforementioned late-night talk shows came together to create a podcast called 'Strike Force Five' during the strike. The show's proceeds will go to their respective late-night talk shows' writing staff to financially compensate them while they were demonstrating in the pickets.

Meanwhile, major film production and streaming studios might call for staff to sit down inside their writers' rooms with immediate interest. Paramount is reported to have expedited polishing scripts for a planned reboot of 'Star Trek' and an adaptation of the video game franchise 'Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'.

Warner Brothers is expected to hire back screenwriter and filmmaker Matt Reeves immediately for a sequel to 'The Batman' which premiered back in 2022.

Universal Pictures is also looking forward to a new draft of the follow-up to 'Fast X', 'Fast X: Part 2', with a projected release on April 4, 2025.

For major streaming services, several film projects can now resume their drafts. Among HBO's biggest TV projects that were suspended during the strike were new seasons of 'The White Lotus', 'The Last of Us' and 'Euphoria'.

Netflix is expected to also fast-track writing for a new season of Wednesday and the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.

The cult hit series Community may also have its pre-production resume after the resolution of the strike, which will be hosted by streaming platform Peacock.

Part of a whole

As Hollywood seems to have pre-production schedules back on track, progressing the actual production calendar might take a while. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is still looking to negotiate a better deal out of the AMPTP, especially after the success of the WGA's strike. Guild members have been demonstrating in pickets since July 14, 2023.

This has especially affected current projects that are near completion. 'Gladiator 2', the sequel to the widely acclaimed historical drama starring Russell Crowe, was in the middle of its production in Malta when SAG-AFTRA called for a strike.

Other affected projects include 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two', the major action franchise starring Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood's return to the director's chair in 'Juror No. 2' and 'Deadpool 3', which only had a few weeks to conclude before wrapping up production.