Gladiator 2 and Mortal Kombat 2 were the first to be affected by actors’ strike

This morning we woke up to the strike of the Hollywood actors, which will affect the entire film industry, and we have not even needed a day to know its first consequences. After the announcement of the strike, several movies have already stopped shooting. And they are not random. Gladiator 2 was supposed to start shooting these days (Russell Crowe even revealed the big secret of its shooting) and had to postpone its schedule (thus postponing the agendas of Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal, its protagonists. The same happened to Mortal Kombat 2, one of the most anticipated video game adaptations of 2024 (it even sought to have Karl Urban, from The Boys, as Johnny Cage).

But these are not the only productions affected. The first series based on the Alien universe is now on hold, a similar fate is feared for the third season of White Lotus, and the same goes for Those About To Die, the new gladiator series starring Anthony Hopkins and directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day). There have also been cases where the situation has been anticipated and accelerated to avoid the strike, as in the case of Prime Video with The Rings of Power Season 2, which has tightened schedules to get ahead on time.

The motives behind the Hollywood Actors’ Strike

According to the SAG (Screen Actors Guild), its more than 160,000 members have been insulted by the offers made by the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), which represents production companies such as Netflix, Warner Bros or Disney.  According to them, studios “have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry’s business model,” such as streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence, but they want to keep “our contracts frozen in amber.” SAG asserts that this is “underestimated our members’ resolve” and promises that they will soon see the consequences.