After the WGA writers' strike finally came to an end after over 100 days, you might have been anticipating the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike following suit as the union and studios headed back to the negotiating table.
Sadly, though, talks have ended with no deal – in fact, SAG-AFTRA says the studios offered a worse deal than the one to begin with.
"It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer," the union wrote on Twitter. "We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began."
The actors' strike kicked off on July 14, 2023. The sticking point between the union and the studios has been AI proposals and revenue sharing across streaming shows.
"These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue YOUR work generates for them," the union continued. "We have made big, meaningful counters on our end, including completely transforming our revenue share proposal, which would cost the companies less than 57¢ per subscriber each year. They have rejected our proposals and refused to counter.
"Instead they use bully tactics. Just tonight, they intentionally misrepresented to the press the cost of the above proposal – overstating it by 60%."
SAG-AFTRA also spoke more on AI proposals: "They have done the same with AI, claiming to protect performer consent, but continuing to demand 'consent' on the first day of employment for use of a performer's digital replica for an entire cinematic universe (or any franchise project)."
AMPTP, the negotiating body representing the studios, put out its own statement that reads in part: "Negotiations between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have been suspended after SAG-AFTRA presented its most recent proposal on October 11. After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.
"SAG-AFTRA's current offer included what it characterized as a viewership bonus that, by itself, would cost more than $800 million per year – which would create an untenable economic burden," the statement continues. "SAG-AFTRA presented few, if any, moves on the numerous remaining open items."
As for AI, AMPTP says it offered: "Advance consent from the performer and background actor to create and use Digital Replicas; No Digital Replica of the performer can be used without the performer's written consent and description of the intended use in the film; Prohibition of later use of that Replica, unless performer specifically consents to that new use and is paid for it; and, A 'Digital Alteration' that would change the nature of an actor's performance in a role is not permitted without informing the performer of the intended alteration and securing the performer's consent." Read the full statement at Deadline.
By the sounds of things, then, it could be a very long time before a deal between the union and studios is reached – which could mean further release date delays. The likes of Dune 2 and Poor Things have already been shuffled back on the release calendar, while other projects, including Gladiator 2 and Deadpool 3, have come to a standstill. It looks like Deadpool 3 could still meet its original release date, however.
While we wait for more updates on the strike, check out our guide to all the upcoming movie release dates for everything still coming this year.
