By Malia Knight, Teddy Mendelsohn, Tori Reeves and Samantha Weiss
The SAG-AFTRA strike has come to an end after 118 days.
The day the strike ended was November 9. The reason the strike ended was because the demands that were being made from the SAG-AFTRA such as higher wages, streaming bonuses, and protections on artificial intelligence were made. The deal made that ended the strike is a deal worth more than one billion dollars, according to PBS. The general wages increased by seven percent and will continue to increase in 2024.
The SAG-AFTRA strike began on July 14, 2023. SAG-AFTRA is the “Screen Actors Guild” and the “American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.” The SAG-AFTRA strike is the labor dispute between the actor’s union and the producer’s association. The strike began because of the changes to the entertainment environment. The demands made from the strike were meant to protect the members of the entertainment industry from the excessive change happening in the industry.
The president of SAG-AFTRA, Fran Drescher, said, “planning our play and playing our plan” is what they will be doing moving forward with 2026 negotiations. Now that the strike has ended shows will now be resuming. It is said that coming mid-February CBS scripted shows will return. Shows such as “Young Sheldon”, “NCIS”, “Ghosts,” and many more will be returning.
Movies postponed due to 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike
During the 118 days of the SAG-AFTRA strike studios such as Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. stopped all productions and releases. The unions SAG-AFTRA and WAG have over 160,000 members in the TV and movie industry who were asking for better pay, tentative contracts and protection from AI. Impacting a lot of jobs and entertainment outlets. Every part of making a movie stopped. From writing to promoting the film, members of SAG-AFTRA were stuck in a pickle for almost 4 months. On November 9, 2023, the strike ended which is good news but now it’s time to catch up on 118 days of movie magic.
| Popular Movies | Previous Release Date: | New Release Date: |
| Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 | Summer 2024 | May 2025 |
| Dune – Part 2 | October 20, 2023 | March 15, 2024 |
| Spider Man: Beyond the Spider Verse | March 2024 | TBA (2025?) |
| Wicked: Part 1 | December 25, 2024 | November 27, 2024 |
| Avatar 3 | December 2024 | December 2025 |
| Wicked: Part 2 | December 25, 2025 | November 26, 2025 |
| Deadpool 3 | July 26, 20024 | TBA |
| Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim | April 2024 | TBA |
Many fans expected earlier release dates but due to the strike release dates are being pushed back. Many of the movies are sequels fans are waiting for. Some fans become so invested. There are thousands of clubs and conventions for each storyline in the Marvel universe. Marvel fans may be used to cliffhangers however in the age of binge-watching, a year is a long time to wait for the next storyline. New movies have almost the same public reaction. Anticipated films such as Wicked already have groups to join on Facebook. Across all social media apps, fans are expressing how badly they want to see these films.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8DBPDc4
https://m.facebook.com/groups/884776152862900/?ref=share&mibextid=38OzT7
The strike included nine major Hollywood studios. Actors under contract were forced to stop working, but also stop promoting their work. In certain situations, such as the new Barbie film that was released on July 21, 2023. Exactly one week into the 118-day strike. At a promotion event for the Barbie movie, the cast expressed their full support of actors in SAG, some being SAGActors themselves. That was the the same night officials decided to go on strike making it the last promotional event for the Barbie cast. The Barbie movie was still a huge success, there had been plenty of promotion before the strike. It may seem like no big deal, however, months after release SAG-AFTRA told their members that Barbie Halloween costumes shouldn’t be worn this year. SAG saw the Halloween costumes as promotion tools and requested that their members stand in solidarity in every way.
The solidarity seems to have worked now that the strike is over. Fans are happy to have their regularly scheduled entertainment back. While some actors and SAG-AFTRA members have already shown their excitement in TikTok posts and SNL monologues.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8DSgfxA/
Why the strike happened
On July 14, 2023, SAG-AFTRA combined with the Writers Guild of American strike which started over fighting for better pay and working conditions from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Many members of SAG-AFTRA that participated in the strike were mainly fighting over payments called residuals which are when their work is re-used beyond the initial release date. Another reason for the strike was the use of artificial intelligence to create synthetic characters from images of several different performers.
Earlier this year union members expressed their concerns about the use of artificial intelligence and their wages to executive members of SAG-AFTRA. In this open letter they wrote, “We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade.”
Many union members felt and believed that they were being taken advantage of and that they were not appreciated for all the work they do. Members of this union contain Academy Award winners to background actors. The hope for this strike is that deals are made to help the members and not make them lose money and the human touch that the industry holds.
TV shows set to come back to production
The SAG-AFTRA strike has finally come to an end after a near five-month-long standstill. SAG-AFTRA which is short for Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists which represents Actors, and other talents for fair pay and benefits.
The SAG-AFTRA strike delayed filming, production, and releases for countless Movies, TV shows, and more which has had fans, and actors begging for a solution while always standing their ground to get what they deserve.
The list of shows that were delayed, and had work halted is very extensive from All American season 6, Wednesday season 2, OuterBanks season 4, and even cartoons like Family Guy, and American Dad have halted productions. Fortunately, the strike has ended and all these shows and many more can finally get back to work and doing what they love to give shows and entertainment to the fans.