In the immortal words of one particularly profound Twitter/X user: “Girl, the strike.”
They were, of course, referring to the industrial action undertaken by both the writers and actors of Hollywood earlier this year, after the unions WGA and Sag-Aftra made a string of demands to protect their members and improve their working conditions.
The Writers’ Strike ended at the tail end of September this year, while the Actors’ Strike only came to a close this week.
Still, despite being just a day out of the strike, several major projects are already putting the wheels in motion to get back to work.
Here’s where things currently stand for some of the most anticipated shows and films that were put on pause due to the strikes...
Deadpool 3
According to Deadline, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s threequel featuring the R-rated mercenary will be back to work “this week or in the very near future”.
Shawn Levy (Deadpool 3’s director) has previously confirmed that the flick was about 50% complete before production came to a halt – and tweeted “Let’s effing GOOOOO” after the strike’s conclusion.
The Boys
Following its very well-received spin-off Gen V, Prime Video’s raucous superhero romp The Boys is also confirmed to be back in production.
Creator and producer Eric Kripke wrote on X: “Here’s the update. Editing: done. VFX: halfway done. Music & sound: quarter done.
“Now that the SAG strike is over (yay), the actors can record additional dialogue. No airdate yet, but will be worth the wait. It could be our best season. For sure our craziest.”
Stranger Things
According to cast member David Harbour, the cast of Netflix’s sci-fi smash is ready and rarirng to get back to work – and would be doing so in “a couple of days”.
“I mean, we got to film that last season of ‘Stranger Things,’ don’t we? I got to be down there, like, in a couple of days. We got to get going — we’re late.”
The writers of the show previously teased the first scene of season five on what’s become known as “Stranger Things Day” once the writers’ strike came to an end.
Gladiator 2
Deadline has also reported that the Gladiator sequel, starring Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, is also back in production.
Ridley Scott, who directed the original film and its forthcoming follow-up, previously revealed that he’d edited around an hour and a half of footage, including a scene where Paul Mescal’s character fights off *checks notes* a pack of baboons.
The media outlet also claimed that these projects will soon be back in production too: Clint Eastwood’s Juror No. 2, Sony’s Venom 3 and the Tim Burton directed Beetlejuice 2, which reportedly only has two days of filming left.
Mission: Impossible
With a eighth instalment of the franchise coming soon, director (and writer… and producer) Christopher McQuarrie previously confirmed that prior to the strike’s commencement, the film had completed shooting – that is, apart from “the biggest set piece, the central set piece”.
Wicked
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star front and centre as good and bad witch Glinda and Elphaba in Jon Chu’s movie adaptation of the hit musical, which is being split into two parts.
Although he’s not said anything specific about production resuming, he posted an Instagram story which said he was “excited to get back to work” after the strike’s resolution.
The White Lotus
Also not currently filming, but set to get going in early 2024, is Mike White’s satirical black comedy.
He previously confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the season will take place in Thailand and feature the return of a fan favourite character from season one…