The end of the Hollywood screenwriters’ strike is in sight: What series and movies were affected?

After 146 days of strike and five of intense negotiations, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Film and Television Producers announced a provisional agreement that could put an end to the strike that put major American production companies in check. In addition, they managed to add to their cause the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, which is still on strike.

“What remains now is for our staff to ensure that everything we have agreed to is codified in the contract. And while we look forward to sharing with you the details of what has been accomplished, we can’t do so until the last ‘i’ is dotted” the Union bargaining committee informed strike leaders in an email. Following this message, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and members of the Screen Actors Guild congratulated the creation of this provisional agreement.

The strike, which began on May 2, is mainly due to the search for a salary that adapts to the rate of inflation experienced in the United States and opposition to the use of artificial intelligence that replaces human jobs, in addition to demand fair compensation for “residuals” (royalties) on streaming platforms.

Collateral damage

Like the 2007 writers’ strike – which ended series like “Heroes” and “Lost” – this new strike in the entertainment industry affected the production of the most anticipated series on streaming platforms, as well as some productions destined for the big screen. Among the main franchises affected is “Game of Thrones”, whose recordings of “The House of the Dragon” continue, but its other prequel, “The Knight Errant”, was paralyzed in its pre-production stage as it did not have a scriptwriter or the support of its creator, George RR Martin. Other major HBO series affected are the second part of the popular adaptation of the video game “The Last of Us.”

Marvel is also among the companies affected, since it canceled pre-production of the movie “Blade”, which was a month away from starting to shoot scenes after the announcement of the writers’ strike. The production company hopes that the strike is over to resume the film, even if they have to rewrite the entire script again.

Another of the large companies affected is Netflix, which stopped the new season of the popular series “Stranger Things”, in addition to “Big Mouth”, “The Sandman” and the last season of “Cobra Kai”. For its part, Disney also postponed releases such as the second season of “Andor,” the fourth season of “The Mandalorian” and the new series “Daredevil: Born Again.” Other productions that had to be postponed are “The Rings of Power”, “Family Guy”, “Yellowjackets” and the last episodes of the new season of “American Horror Story”.

What can be expected after the return and launch of the series that were involved in the writers’ strike is something very similar to what happened with the affected films of 2007, such as “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, whose script was not finished at the time of shooting scenes; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, which was written in three weeks by Michael Bay himself after receiving only a synopsis, in addition to films such as “GI Joe” and “Dragonball Evolution”, the latter had to be released in a hurry due to that Sony was left with an empty launch schedule.

Before being able to celebrate the return of series and major productions thanks to the provisional agreement between Screenwriters and Producers, it must go through several steps. First, the vote by the members of the negotiating committee, followed by the approval of the board of directors of the North American Writers Guild and the council, both activities scheduled for this Tuesday the 26th. Finally, an official statement will be issued to announce the reintegration of the Association’s more than 11,500 members to their work and the full terms of the agreement.