Christopher Nolan is joining his “Oppenheimer” cast in stepping out from Hollywood as the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes ensue.
A day after the ensemble of his upcoming J. Robert Oppenheimer epic — including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh — walked out of the film’s London premiere as the SAG-AFTRA strike began simultaneously, Nolan told BBC News that he will not attempt another film project until the work stoppages are resolved.
“No, absolutely. It’s very important that everybody understands it is a very key moment in the relationship between working people and Hollywood,” Nolan told the outlet amid SAG-AFTRA protesting the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ (AMPTP) refusal to offer a more solid residuals structure for streaming content and to protect actors and other talent against the threat of artificial intelligence.
“This is not about me, this is not about the stars of my film,” Nolan said. His film, out July 21 from Universal Pictures, premiered in London the same day as SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher officially declared the union-wide strike order. This marks the first dual-union strike — combining SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, which went on strike on May 2 — to hit Hollywood in 60 years.
“This is about jobbing actors, this is about staff writers on television programs trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table.”
SAG-AFTRA has claimed that its now-expired contract with the AMPTP ignores how studios compensate talent for content that streams well beyond its initial release date.
Nolan said that studios associated with the AMPTP have not taken account of “this new world of streaming, and a world where they’re not licensing their products out to other broadcasters — they’re keeping them for themselves.”
The five-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker added, “They have not yet offered to pay appropriately to the unions’ working members, and it’s very important that they do so. I think you’d never want a strike, you never want industrial action. But there are times where it’s necessary. This is one of those times.”
Speaking to BBC News just ahead of “Oppenheimer’s” Thursday night London premiere, Nolan added, “It’s very important to bear in mind that there are people who have been out of work for months now, as part of the writers strike, and with the actors potentially joining — a lot of people are going to suffer.”
In the wake of the ongoing strikes, Nolan currently has no plans to work on a film in the U.K. or the United States. Meanwhile, productions featuring SAG-AFTRA talent are globally shutting down, from “Deadpool 3” to “Venom 3” and “Gladiator 2.”
Source link
