House Of The Dragon, Dune: The Sisterhood, And Everything Else Still Filming Despite The Hollywood Strikes
There aren't a lot of cameras rolling in Hollywood right now. A strike by the Writers Guild of America began on May 2, 2023, shutting down 80 percent of productions, and writers were joined by actors on June 14 when trade association AMPTP failed to reach a deal with the union for actors and performers, SAG-AFTRA. This means that actors on any production shooting under an agreement with SAG-AFTRA — which means the vast majority of movies and TV shows produced by American studios — are currently on strike from both acting in and promoting struck projects.
There are a few exceptions to that category. Some projects filming overseas are instead produced under agreements with local actors' unions, like the United Kingdom's Equity. In cases like this, SAG-AFTRA members have no legal protection if they choose to strike, even in solidarity. Per Equity's guidance, SAG-AFTRA members working under Equity contracts in the UK...
...should continue to work and should not be prevented from doing so by a SAG-AFTRA picket. As the strike has been authorised under legislation in the United States and is not lawful under United Kingdom legislation, you have no protection against being dismissed or sued for breach of contract by the producer or your engager if you take strike action or refuse to cross a picket. If your action was to cause losses to your engager (the producer) or third parties, they may hold you liable for those losses. Under UK law, SAG-AFTRA is not permitted to discipline you for continuing to work.
In addition to these exceptions for actors working under overseas union contracts, SAG-AFTRA itself is offering interim agreements to "truly independent" productions that will allow them to continue filming. A full list of productions given permission to continue is available on SAG-AFTRA's website. Here are some of the biggest movies and TV shows that still have cameras rolling amid the strikes.
A24's Mother Mary and Death of a Unicorn
Among SAG-AFTRA's initial list of 39 productions permitted to continue filming were two titles from beloved indie studio A24: "Mother Mary" and "Death of a Unicorn." The exception comes down to the fact that A24 is not part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and is therefore not involved in the current negotiations. The studio was permitted to continue filming after agreeing to abide by the terms of SAG-AFTRA's latest offer until the dispute is resolved, though ultimately they'll adhere to the terms of the final deal negotiated with AMPTP.
"Mother Mary" stars Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, with David Lowery ("The Green Knight") directing from a script that he wrote, and filming set to take place in Germany. The film is described as an "epic pop melodrama" about the relationship between a musician (Hathaway) and a fashion designer (Coel). "Death of a Unicorn" is filming in Hungary and stars Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as two people who accidentally hit a unicorn with their car. It's the directorial debut of Alex Scharfman, an indie producer whose credits include the 2022 thriller "Resurrection."
Meanwhile, Deadline reports that an A24 film that was set to release on August 4, Julian Torres' "Problemista" (pictured above), has been delayed to an indefinite date due to the strikes. The movie premiered at SXSW film festival in March, and some scattered screenings will still take place until a new general release date is determined.
Bride Hard
Another of the more high-profile films that has been granted an interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA is "Bride Hard," an action-comedy from director Simon West ("Con Air") which is set to star Rebel Wilson in the lead role. According to the synopsis, "Bride Hard" is about a maid of honor who reveals her ass-kicking skills as a secret agent when a mercenary group takes her best friend's wedding hostage. Filming is taking place in Savannah, and the news of production continuing was broken in a now-deleted tweet by a crew member (via Deadline), who explained: "We are an independently financed, independently produced feature film with no studio or connection to the AMPTP." Though the film may not have a distribution deal yet, it's likely that an AMPTP member studio will end up snapping it up to fill the gap in the pipeline, which has led some to question whether SAG-AFTRA's interim agreements could weaken the guild's position.
The Chosen
Angel Studios is currently making waves with child trafficking action drama "Sound of Freedom," but this isn't the Utah-based production company's first brush with box office success. Historical drama "The Chosen," which stars Jonathan Roumie in a story about the life of Jesus Christ, has drawn theater crowds with event screenings of premieres and finales. The first and second episodes of "The Chosen" season 3 grossed $14.6 million at the box office, and the season finale grossed another $5.5 million.
Like A24, Angel Studios is not a part of AMPTP, and "The Chosen" was therefore the first series to be granted an interim agreement to continue filming during the SAG-AFTRA strike, per Deadline. Season 4 is reportedly close to wrapping production, and while a distribution deal isn't in place yet, it's possible that the episodes could end up with one of the distributors who are covered by the strike. Previous seasons of "The Chosen" have been sold to The CW, Netflix, Amazon, and Peacock, and seasons 1 to 3 (though not 4) are now covered by a distribution deal with Lionsgate. However, Angel Studios also has its own independent streaming service, so a deal with a distributor isn't essential to releasing season 4.
Dune: The Sisterhood
In the world of Frank Herbert's "Dune," the Spacing Guild has a monopoly on all interstellar travel and as such wields a great deal of power. But Max prequel series "Dune: The Sisterhood" is beyond the reach of the U.S. actors guild, since the show is being produced under a contract with Equity, according to Deadline.
"The Sisterhood" has already spent a long time in development and production hell. It was supposed to begin filming in November 2020 but, presumably due to the difficulties of the pandemic, the cameras didn't start rolling until November 2022. And then, three months later, they stopped rolling when director Johan Renck and star Shirley Henderson (who was set to play Tula Harkonnen) left the project. A Max spokesperson described this to Deadline as a "pre-scheduled hiatus" to allow for "creative changes" to be made to the series.
Now it seems that "Dune: The Sisterhood" will be one of the few productions filming as almost every other show goes dark. On July 13, Deadline reported that production was set to relaunch "any day now." Stars of the sci-fi prequel include Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Jodhi May, Travis Fimmel, and Mark Strong.
House of the Dragon season 2
There's no rest for the many, many Aegons of House Targaryen. Shortly after the strike was announced, Variety reported that filming on "House of the Dragon" season 2 is expected to continue despite the strike, as the cast is made up primarily of British actors working under Equity contracts. Reliable industry scooper Daniel Richtman shared on his Patreon that some SAG-AFTRA members, Matt Smith among them, refused to work in the wake of the strike announcement, and filming on July 14 was canceled because of this. On July 21, Richtman reported that filming was continuing on the series despite some actors still refusing to come to set.
It's common for actors who work in both the UK and the United States to be members of both Equity and SAG-AFTRA, but if the stars of "House of the Dragon" are working under Equity contracts, they have no legal protections if they strike and the union has therefore advised them to continue working. HBO could potentially sue any cast members refusing to work in order to force them back to set.
According to Redanian Intelligence, "House of the Dragon" season 2 is currently filming at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, through July, and there may be another location shoot coming in August before filming wraps in September.