It’s already been a rough year for movie theaters, with the North American box office down about 20 percent from last year. And that was when actors could promote their movies.
With SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, going on strike on Friday, its 160,000 members are officially banned from not only performing in projects involving the major Hollywood studios, but also participating in publicity efforts for movies and TV shows that have already been released. completed.
That means no appearances, both online and in person, including next week’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, many of the fall film festivals, and any movie premieres or TV promotional events. SAG-AFTRA officials this week held conference calls with Hollywood’s top agencies and publicists to explain strike rules for both production and promotion of upcoming projects. And on Thursday, after announcing the strike, the union released its membership rules.
“It gets expensive because the only other way to make up for the lack of publicity is to buy more noise,” said Terry Press, a leading Hollywood marketer. “If you don’t have any kind of publicity, which is free to some extent, you have to try and make up that noise.
“Ultimately, that’s expensive,” she continued, “especially in the summer, where there’s very little advertising you can actually buy that will draw large crowds of people.”
It will also be uncomfortable. This became apparent even before the actors’ union announced on Thursday that it would approve a strike. A few hours earlier, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ premiered in London.
“Oppenheimer” is one of the most anticipated movies this summer, one that theater owners have been referring to – along with Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and the latest chapter “Mission: Impossible” with Tom Cruise – as a movie that has some could breathe life into a struggling company.
But at the premiere at the Odeon Theater in Leicester Square, it was clear the strike would have an impact. First, the event was pushed back an hour so that the cast full of bold names — including Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy — could walk the red carpet. Then they all left before the screening started, in solidarity with the union.
“They’re going to write their pickets,” Mr. Nolan joked to the crowd of 800 people.
Universal Pictures said it would still hold the “Oppenheimer” premiere in New York on Monday, but none of the actors would be there.
The lack of buzzy premieres and the usual round of publicity for movies is troubling for a movie theater industry that hoped things would pick up in the second half of the year.
The strike is also a concern for the fall film festival circuit, which relies on actors appearing in person to promote their prestige films aimed at awards season. “The whole festival circuit, those movies are nothing but publicity driven,” Ms Press said.
Typically, actors on the hunt for Oscar gold make the pilgrimage to Italy for the Venice International Film Festival in late August, then head to Colorado for the Telluride Film Festival, then Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival – the three early stops on the campaign trail .
“The grammar of releasing those films requires the festival circuit,” Ms Press said. “That’s when, I think, you’re going to have some serious consequences.”
Television is also affected. Despite the Emmy nominations announced on Wednesday, none of the nominated actors will be able to promote their work. Asked how the awards ceremony – which is scheduled for September but likely to be postponed if the strike lasts longer – will be affected by the strike, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator, said: “Our strike rules do not allow any form of promotion for television series or streaming series produced under these contracts, and my expectation is that it will bring actors’ participation in Emmy campaigns to an end.”
