Already, some upcoming movies have had their launch plans modified because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. The Helen Mirren drama “White Chook” and A24’s Julio Torres comedy “Problemista” have been alleged to launch in August and are actually with out an official launch date, whereas “Challengers,” a tennis romance starring Zendaya, on Friday abdicated its prestigious slot because the opening-night title on the Venice Movie Competition, which begins Aug. 30. That movie, just like the Emma Stone comedy “Poor Issues,” had been set for theatrical launch in September with a view to capitalize on a starry press push at Venice. Now “Challengers” has moved to April 2024, in response to Deadline.
Venice and the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition will announce their full lineups subsequent week, and although these slates have the possibility to construct on the movie-loving momentum provided by “Barbenheimer” weekend, many surprise in the event that they’ll be missing the starry status titles studios usually ship there. “If ‘Oppenheimer’ have been a fall film and I used to be taking it to Toronto, I feel we’d most likely at this level have determined to not take it,” stated that movie’s awards strategist, Tony Angelotti, citing the price of reserving journey and lodging for the solid and makers of a significant film: “Would they refund your cash if the strike continues?”
Whereas Hollywood braces itself for the subsequent strike-related shoe to drop, Scott Sanders is feeling an unwelcome case of déjà vu. As one of many producers of a brand new movie-musical adaptation of “The Colour Purple,” Sanders has spent months poring over a meticulous launch technique for the Fantasia Barrino-led movie, due in theaters on Christmas Day. However all of that arduous work might be dashed if Warner Bros. delays the film, because it did three years in the past with one other Sanders-produced musical: “Within the Heights” was pushed a full yr to June 2021 due to the pandemic, after which launched concurrently in theaters and on HBO Max.
Sanders stated the studio has assured him that, to date, no discussions have been had about bumping “The Colour Purple” into 2024. Nonetheless, he stated, “If the opposite huge tentpole vacation motion pictures or awards-bait movies begin to shift, frankly, I’m going to be nervous.” He added, “The optimist in me thinks we now have six or seven extra weeks earlier than we now have to start out taking Pepto Bismol.”
The hype round “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” might rekindle a love for moviegoing, Sanders stated, however there could be few titles left to capitalize on it. “Are we going to maintain the momentum going from this weekend?” he stated. “Or are we going to all of the sudden pull the emergency cease within the subsequent month or two and return to sq. one once more?”
If that twine is pulled, it’ll have a big ripple impact. Theaters which might be barely again from the brink for the reason that pandemic could be examined as soon as once more, whereas the movies that have been already dated for 2024 could be compelled to liberate house. And with out the standard inflow of year-end status movies, this yr’s awards season might look very totally different — and, in one other method, all-too-familiar.
“Worst-case state of affairs, each studio on the planet decides to maneuver their fourth-quarter motion pictures into subsequent yr,” Sanders mused. “All of the sudden, the final contenders for awards are ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer.’ Then what occurs?”
