After the American Motion Picture and Television Producers union failed to offer acceptable counters and terms to the Writers Guild of America, the WGA called a strike on May 2. Struck companies include Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and Apple, and will likely affect dozens of productions across the next few months.
Let’s see what shows and films have been affected by the writers strike—along with some notable projects that are still going ahead despite the lack of writing staff. We will update this slideshow as we get more information.
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2 / 24
Andor
Andor
Image: Lucasfilm
Andor has continued production despite the strike. All scripts have been turned in, and Tony Gilroy—the showrunner and head writer—had previously intended to continue on set doing “non-writer” production work. However, he has since clarified in a new statement that he is not continuing to do any any work on the series, and has stepped away as of the beginning of the strike.
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3 / 24
Big Mouth
Big Mouth
Image: Netflix
According to Variety, Big Mouthis likely impacted. There have been no announcements, but the animated show’s eighth and final season was greenlit this year and writers had begun work.
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4 / 24
Blade
Blade
Image: Matt Winkelmeyer (Getty Images)
Mahershala Ali’s Blade has been paused. Marvel has faced numerous roadblocks with this production, and the movie was undergoing rewriters the last time we heard an update.
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5 / 24
Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai
Image: Netflix
Cobra Kai’s Jon Hurwitz has tweeted in support of the WGA and said that he would not be returning to set without writers.
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6 / 24
Daredevil
Daredevil
Image: Netflix
According to Lisa Takeuchi Cullen and Warren Leigh, Daredevil was among the NYC productions shut down by picket lines in the first weeks of the strike. Daredevil will likely continue production attempts.
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7 / 24
Evil
Evil
Image: Paramount+
Production on Evil has been shut down across multiple days of pickets in NYC.
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8 / 24
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
Image: Netflix
Although there have been rumors that House of Usher was delayed or even cancelled due to showrunner Mike Flanagan’s move from Netflix to Prime Video, it looks like the final production of the series is not impacted by the strike and a date will be announced soon.
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9 / 24
Fear the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead
Image: AMC
According to the Wrap, AMC’s production schedule, which includes Fear the Walking Dead, has not been affected.
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10 / 24
Good Omens
Good Omens
Image: Prime Video
While Good Omens season two has finished production, head writer Neil Gaiman—who’s part of the WGA and in support of the strike—said that the promotion for the show would likely be impacted.
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11 / 24
House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon
Image: HBO
As reported earlier, House of the Dragon has resumed production without any writers on set. All the scripts had been turned in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the writing was finished, as many scripts are edited during production. The showrunner has, reportedly, returned to work. The show had just begun production.
George R. R. Martin has issued a statement in support of the strike, and clarified that “the scripts for the eight s2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began, Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons).”
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12 / 24
Interview With the Vampire
Interview With the Vampire
Image: AMC
According to the Wrap, AMC’s production schedule, which includes Interview with the Vampire season two, has not been affected.
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13 / 24
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
Image: HBO
The HBO Game of the Thrones spinoff has gone dark. According to George R. R. Martin, “Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines.”
The synopsis for the HBO series: “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, there was Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg. Executive produced by George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker, Ryan Condal and Vince Gerardis, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight has received a straight to series order.”
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14 / 24
The Last of Us
The Last of Us
Image: HBO
Production has been delayed and casting auditions have been postponed due to writers’ refusing to work while the AMPTP refuses to negotiate. Variety reports that showrunner Craig Mazin has been on strike since day one. James Whitbrook writes that “previously, due to a lack of available scripts for season 2, the HBO series had purportedly been auditioning new talent using video game developer Naughty Dog’s own scripts for The Last of Us: Part 2, which season 2 of the show will adapt in part.”
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15 / 24
The Penguin
The Penguin
Image: Warner Bros.
Deadline reports that production on The Penguin has been stopped as workers refused to cross picket lines in support of the WGA.
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16 / 24
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Image: Prime Video
Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season two will continue with its production, but without the writers or the showrunners—J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay—working on it. This was a planned move, and Payne and McKay left instructions on how to finish shooting in event of a strike.
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17 / 24
Severance
Severance
Image: Apple
Apple TV+’s Severance, which was already facing some delays, has had some disruption as season two production was delayed by the strike. Deadline reports that IATSE and Teamsters refused to cross a NYC picket line, and the WGA shut down the production. Adam Scott was on the picket lines on Wednesday, May 10.
Deadline has now reported that production on season two will be delayed “indefinitely.”
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18 / 24
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Image: Paramount
The third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been delayed. Bill Wokoff, one of the writers and producers on Strange New Worlds, was seen picketing on May 2.
Despite the calls from various studios for producers to return to work, Wokoff has decided to stand with the WGA and will not return to work on Strange New Worlds in any capacity until AMPTP gives writers a fair deal.
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19 / 24
Stranger Things
Stranger Things
Image: Netflix
The Duffer Brothers tweeted that Stranger Things would not be resuming work until “a fair deal is reached.” Stranger Things is headed into its fifth and final season.
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20 / 24
Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts
Image: Marvel
Marvel’s all-star anti-hero team up flic has been put on pause. [Deadline]
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21 / 24
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Image: AMC
According to the Wrap, AMC’s production schedule, which includes The Walking Dead spinoff, Daryl Dixon, has not been affected.
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22 / 24
Wonder Man
Wonder Man
Image: Marvel Comics
Marvel’s upcoming TV series Wonder Man (which will star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has been put on ice as well. [Deadline]
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23 / 24
Productions are not in danger; writers are
Productions are not in danger; writers are
Image: Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer (Getty Images)
The takeaway here is not that our favorite shows are going to fail, but that through corporate greed and a failure to adjust to the times, television and movie writing has become a depreciated, devalued, and uninviting career. Writers are struggling to make rent, while David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros, makes more than $35 million a year.
This is an existential, necessary move that many writers did not want to do, but did so out of a desire to keep their profession alive and to help lead the way for other unions to act in their own power as negotiations come up with AMPTP later in the year. Overall, writers as asking for $500 million spread across nearly 12,000 writers; this is a 3% increase. Considering the billions of dollars streamers and studios are making, their requests seem pretty reasonable.
You can keep up with how to support writers by visiting the WGA contract site.
We will keep updating this slideshow as we learn of more productions impacted by the ongoing strike.