The studios are starting to delay the openings of their big fall films – the Oscar hopefuls — because of the SAG strike. We’ve already read about the possibility of “Dune 2,” and “The Color Purple” getting delayed. “Challengers” has officially moved to Spring 2024.
An interesting report from Daniel Richtman raises a few question about the current crop of productions and releases. Firstly, is Brad Pitt defying the strike by continuing to shoot his F1 movie in Europe? Richtman claims Pitt wants to continue working and might defy the strike.
There have been reports of director Joseph Kosinski shooting scenes of the F1 movie last week, titled “Apex”, but no SAG actors were spotted on-set. Was Pitt hiding somewhere in the background?
Now, here’s the lede from Richtman’s story. He’s saying that a major shakeup of the fall 2023 movie schedule is coming. He claims that major studios are thinking about moving ALL of their big releases, originally setup for late summer/fall release dates, to next year.
Small indie studios like A24 agreed to SAG's terms and will continue filming and using its actors during the strike. In fact, we might only be getting independently-financed and foreign films this fall. Is that a bad thing? Of course not. Time for some under-the-radar gems to get the attention they deserve.
What would this mean for the Oscars? Well, a lot less contenders. Also, Fall/Winter Oscar screenings for members would most likely not happen, and it’s via those events that the likes of EEAAO and “CODA” built up buzz to win Best Picture.
So, in the next few weeks, pay close attention to whether fall releases such as “Poor Things,” “Drive-Away Dolls,” “The Holdovers,” “Napoleon,” “Ferrari,” “Saltburn” and “Maestro” move away from their dates 2023 launches and settle for a bow next year. As for Netflix, all indications are showing that they won’t delay anything, including David Fincher’s “The Killler.”