Deadpool 3, Gladiator 2 among movies getting back to work quickly after strike

Last night, the Hollywood actors union SAG-AFTRA announced that the actors strike is over, ending a long period of union activity in Hollywood that began when writers went on strike back in May. The writers settled before the actors, winning significant gains in pay, security, and protections from advancing AI technology. We don’t know the details of the new SAG-AFTRA contract yet, but according to a statement released by the union, it sounds like they had similar success.

Between the writers and actors strikes, Hollywood has been slowed down (if not completely shut down) for over half a year. Now it’s time to get back to work. Although filming on delayed projects likely won’t get fully back up and running until January, after the holidays, Deadline is reporting on several movies that are likely to get back into gear sooner than others, including:

• Deadpool 3, which was around half done when the strikes shut it down
• Gladiator 2, which stars Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal
• Beetlejuice 2, which had only two days of filming left when it had to stop
• Venom 3
• Voice actors will continue work on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the sequel to this year’s hit Across the Spider-Verse

Release dates are being shuffled around a bit, but everyone is trying to get back on top of things so there can be a 2024 slate of movies for people to spend money on. Deadline expects Captain America: Brave New World to come out in May and Deadpool 3 in July. Beetlejuice 2 is aiming for a September 6 release. As for movies trying to get off the ground, Tron 3, Mortal Kombat 2, Superman: Legacy and a Minecraft movie starring Jason Momoa all want to start shooting early in 2024.

Pedro Pascal prioritizing Gladiator 2 over The Last of Us season 2

Now that actors are allowed to go back to work, some will have to prioritize certain projects over other ones. For example, Deadline says that Pedro Pascal — one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, is dedicated to finishing work on Gladiator 2, meaning that the second season of the HBO show The Last of Us will have to work around his schedule whenever it gets around to shooting. Hopefully he’ll be mostly done with Gladiator 2 when that happens.

Predictably, actors are happy that the strike is over. They’ve been reacting all over social media, promoting their new stuff and generally breathing sighs of relief. For instance:

President Joe Biden congratulates actors union

This has been an extremely busy year for unions, and not just in Hollywood. UPS workers negotiated a noteworthy new contract back in April. The United Auto Workers scored major victories against big car companies. Joe Biden, who has billed himself as the most pro-union president in history, has been here for all of it, although we can argue about whether all this stuff would have happened with or without him. In any case he congratulated the members of SAG-AFTRA in a statement:

"When both sides come to the table to negotiate in earnest they can make businesses stronger and allow workers to secure pay and benefits that help them raise families and retire with dignity. Over the last three years, workers have won historic victories that ensure record pay, record benefits, and an economy that grows from the middle out and bottom up. SAG-AFTRA members will have the final say on this contract, but the sacrifices they’ve made will ensure a better future for them, their families, and all workers who deserve a fair share of the value they helped create."

Will 2024 be as union-tastic as 2023 was? See you on the other side.

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