‘Star Wars’, Production Cycles, and the WGA Strike

Writers seeking to re-up their contracts had several last-minute meetings with the big companies for better working conditions, under threat of strike if a deal was not reached. Alas, the negotiations were short, and writers are on strike for the foreseeable future. Here’s what that might mean for the future of Star Wars.

 

As I wrote in my previous piece on the subject, the members in the Writers Guild of America have reason to be unhappy with the current conditions of the system that they work under, with many seeking better pay, residuals, and employee benefits. With the shift from network and cable television to streaming, the means by which writers make money have shifted, with residuals functionally replacing syndication as a form of revenue for the crew of multiple projects – and many feel that they aren’t getting what they’re owed. As such, the members of the WGA have committed to striking for the first time in fifteen years after the terms of their current contracts expired this Monday. Talks broke down after a lot of last-minute maneuvering; it is believed, though unconfirmed, that Netflix may have been the sole party holding out (if not one of them), as its backlog of content put it at an apparent advantage over its competitors who were more willing to reach a deal. Regardless of what caused things to go awry, we’re now living with the reality that the writers are now refusing to work and are picketing on the streets.

 

What is this strike going to look like? As with many things, looking at past precedent is usually the best resource for this. Before 2023, the WGA has had 6 strikes during 1960, 1973, 1981, 1985, 1988, and 2007 to 2008. The most recent one lasted 100 days, while the longest one lasted 153 days, and the shortest lasted a mere 14 days. In any case, the general trend for strikes of this nature has been that they last somewhere in the range of three or four months based on prior precedent. Studios have prepared accordingly with that timeframe, with many apparently having projects ready to begin filming between now and September and content that can get out this year and next year – but if the strike persists after that, then there could be trouble. Also worth noting is that contracts for the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America are set to expire on June 30, so Hollywood may be in for a larger reckoning if those issues and the WGA’s aren’t resolved by that point. There’s a lot that I could talk about here about the ramifications of the strike, like how it could affect the release dates for upcoming content and cause collateral damage to other film and television projects, but since our site discusses Star Wars, we should shift our focus to what this new development means for the galaxy far, far away.

 

Jon Favreau and The Mandalorian crew

 

When it comes to Star Wars television, things are surprisingly in a decent place overall, because the scripts for multiple projects have been completed for quite a while. Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew are well into post-production and will not be affected. Both Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 and Young Jedi Adventures are finished and ready to be released on May The Fourth. The Bad Batch season 3 is deep into production at this point, so it should have the scripts ready, but last-minute changes by Jennifer Corbett and her team could be affected. The same goes for the recently-announced Tales of the Jedi season 2, which is also scheduled for a 2024 release. However, since animation takes a long time to produce, it’s possible that the strike will affect unnanounced shows that Lucasfilm has been developing. Take, for instance, a potential Star Wars: Visions Volume 3; even if the studios are outside of the US, the Writers Guild of Great Britain has asked members not to work on projects under WGA jurisdiction, and it’s possible that other international guilds would follow suit.

 

Much of The Acolyte and Andor have been shot already (and both have the benefit of being overseas productions, which means that they are less likely to have a union presence and can thus skirt some of the problems that strike might present) – plus, by Tony Gilroy’s admission, the scripts on the second and final season of his show received their final touches just before the strike was put into motion (though he added that it was not intentional, just a matter of schedule). The Acolyte will complete principal photography later this month, so it was not going to suffer many on-set rewrites anyways, and Andor, while still has four more months to go, seems to have everything in place. Scripts for The Mandalorian Season 4 have been done for a few months, and the team at Lucasfilm is working on storyboards and starting the early pre-production process; principal photography should begin later this year, although this has not been confirmed, and that is also dependent on whether or not the studios can avoid strikes from the SAG and DGA. It should be noted that these are all projects that are presumed to release in 2024 at the latest. That being said, a very long strike would potentially affect release schedules for projects from 2025 onward.

 

Star Wars timeline

 

Speaking of things from 2025 onward, this situation complicates the future of Star Wars films, this time due to external factors instead of internal ones. Out of the next three Star Wars projects, two of them have writers involved with the WGA: Steven Knight’s Rey Skywalker story and Dave Filoni’s spin-off film for The Mandalorian. The last that we heard from Lucasfilm, Knight’s script (presumed to be our 2025 movie) was a month and a half from being ready three weeks ago, so that means that his final draft is now around three weeks from completion. If a first draft has been written already, then there should be few pre-production issues, as they could at least get started with what they have. But an unfinished script is still unfinished, and that means that they won’t be able to work with it in the fullest.

 

The good news is that, as far as the films are concerned, this might just prove to be a temporary setback or minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things if the strike is handled in a timely manner. Issues will present themselves if the strike goes on for 100 days, and if the studio isn’t fully happy with the draft of the script that they have at the time, then pre-production will definitely not be ready to start by the summer/early fall as initially intended. Parts of the process like assembling the main pieces of the cast, designing some of the costumes, and doing the initial sketches of the production design could still happen, but it depends on how the situation evolves and if Lucasfilm feels confident they can film the movie sooner rather than later.

 

There are two more players here. James Mangold has already set his next project, a Bob Dylan biopic that will film this summer, so he will be tied up for another year or more, and he’s also not sure if Swamp Thing or Star Wars will be his next movie after that (though rumor has it that Star Wars may be his first priority). Additionally, a new report by Deadline said that Taika Waititi intends to shoot his Star Wars film next year, and from recent hints, he is still developing his script. Lucasfilm has been flexible about what of the three new projects will release first, so they have given themselves options while they wait things out, and getting a movie out in 2025 will most likely not be in trouble despite the current impasse.

 

It seems like we will be in for a bit of a ride while the WGA and Hollywood figure things out. Until then, we’ll be sure to keep you covered on the latest Star Wars updates and more at Star Wars News Net. We stand in solidarity for the rights of writers and hope that the studios meet their demands for better working conditions in a swift and effective fashion.

 

Additional material for this article was provided by Miguel Fernandez.

 

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that James Mangold is not a WGA member.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

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Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.

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