Current:Home > InvestStars of "Oppenheimer" walk out of premiere due to actors' strike-LoTradeCoin
Stars of "Oppenheimer" walk out of premiere due to actors' strike
View Date:2024-12-23 22:29:26
The star-studded cast of "Oppenheimer" left the film's London premiere early on Thursday as the Hollywood actors' union staged its first major strike in more than 40 years.
Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh walked the red carpet outside the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square cinema Thursday, but then exited before the movie's showing, director Christopher Nolan told the audience inside the theater.
"We have to acknowledge, you've seen them earlier on the red carpet," Nolan said of the actors. "Unfortunately, they're off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG (Screen Actors Guild), joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of their union."
After months of negotiations with Hollywood studios failed to achieve a new film and television contract, SAG-AFTRA, which has approximately 160,000 members, went on strike Friday at midnight on the West Coast, joining about 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who have already been on the picket lines since early May.
It marks the first time since 1960 that both Hollywood's actors and writers have been on strike simultaneously.
The Screen Actors Guild last held a strike in 2000 over its commercials contract, but this is the first time it has struck over its film and television deal since 1980.
According to the union's strike rules released Thursday, actors are not allowed to promote their work through premieres, interviews, personal appearances, conventions, fan expos or festivals.
Speaking to Deadline on the red carpet prior to leaving the premiere, Damon said he supported the decision to strike, but acknowledged that it would also be "brutal for our sister unions," including the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE, which represents tens of thousands of below-the-line film and TV workers, such as editors, camera operators, set designers and grips.
"Nobody wants a work stoppage," Damon said. "But if our leadership is saying that the deal isn't fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that's fair for working actors. It's the difference between having healthcare or not for a lot of actors. And we've got to do what's right by them."
Among the sticking points for both actors and writers are residuals from streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group which represents all the major Hollywood studios — including CBS News' parent company Paramount — said in a statement that the strike was "the union's choice, not ours."
In a news conference Thursday, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher criticized the studios, saying they "plead poverty, that they are losing money left and right, while they give millions to their CEOs. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment."
- In:
- Hollywood
- Screen Actors Guild
- Strike
veryGood! (26777)
Related
- Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
- Delta Air Lines says it has protected its planes against interference from 5G wireless signals
- Rising tensions between employers and employees have put the labor back in this year’s Labor Day
- Send off Summer With Major Labor Day Deals on Apple, Dyson, Tarte, KitchenAid, and More Top Brands
- Klay Thompson returns to Golden State in NBA Cup game. How to watch
- Taylor Swift is 'in a class of her own right now,' as Eras tour gives way to Eras movie
- Three found dead at remote Rocky Mountain campsite were trying to escape society, stepsister says
- AP Election Brief | What to expect in Rhode Island’s special primaries
- Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
- Uvalde's 'Remember Their Names' festival disbanded
Ranking
- UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
- Endangered sea turtle rehabilitated after rescue in Northern Wales, will return to the wild
- 2 dead, 3 injured in shooting at Austin business, authorities say
- Horseshoe Beach hell: Idalia's wrath leaves tiny Florida town's homes, history in ruins
- Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
- Students with disabilities in Pennsylvania will get more time in school under settlement
- Remains of Army Pfc. Arthur Barrett, WWII soldier who died as prisoner of war, buried at Arlington National Cemetery
- Ohio lawmaker stripped of leadership after a second arrest in domestic violence case
Recommendation
-
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being ‘disoriented’
-
Police stop Nebraska man for bucking the law with a bull riding shotgun in his car
-
Activists prepare for yearlong battle over Nebraska private school funding law
-
Missouri judge says white man will stand trial for shooting Black teen who went to wrong house
-
Insurance magnate pleads guilty as government describes $2B scheme
-
Ohio lawmaker stripped of leadership after a second arrest in domestic violence case
-
Velocity at what cost? MLB's hardest throwers keep succumbing to Tommy John surgery
-
2 dead, 3 injured in shooting at Austin business, authorities say