Studios set priority film and TV projects post writers strike

Hollywood studios are roadmapping their top priority projects following the recent resolution of the WGA strike, and once SAG-AFTRA sets a new deal.

Studios, network and streamer have outlined priority film and TV projects that they endeavour to expedite into production or development. Some of the major titles include Star Trek and Superman: Legacy to Abbott Elementary and Wednesday.

Per Variety, several major film projects could see pre-production resume soon. Paramount seeks to have writers refining scripts for its planned reboot of Star Trek and its adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. While Warner Bros wants to see Matt Reeves fine tuning his planned The Batman sequel. Universal anticipates that the studio will get a new draft of Fast X: Part 2, currently expected to zoom into cinemas April 4, 2025.  

Other projects, such as Minecraft and James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, have completed scripts and can begin production in the spring of next year, depending on whether a deal with actors has been made. 

“The priorities seem to be things that were all but greenlit but stopped because of the strike,” says Elsa Ramo, managing partner at Ramo Law and an attorney who has represented Imagine Entertainment and Skydance. “They need to figure out how they finish what they started.” 

As soon as SAG-AFTRA’s work stoppage ends, production can resume on several major films, including the sequel to Gladiator, which was more than halfway done filming when cameras stopped rolling in Malta in July as the actors started picketing. Also affected were Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two, which still had some scenes to shoot, as well as Michael Keaton's return to Beetlejuice, Clint Eastwood’s Juror No. 2, and Deadpool 3, which, in some cases, only had a few days of work remaining. Also stalled was Twisters, a sequel to the 1996 tornado thriller, which was only a week into production in Oklahoma before it shut down.  

For TV, most networks and streamers prioritising long-running shows and big-budget freshman series that were in preproduction or already shooting, rather than developing anything new. Partly due to time constraints on filling out writers rooms or casting new roles. Instead, especially for shows many seasons in, they can reassemble the same cast and creative teams and resume work sooner than later.

Once actors endorse a deal, broadcast shows such as ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Abbott Elementary, Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star, and Dick Wolf’s Law & Order, Chicago and FBI franchises are among the top-priority projects to start filming.