New TV Shows and Movies Revealed as SAG-AFTRA Seals the Deal With Studios
Official movie poster for Inside Out 2 | Photo Credit: Disney
On Nov. 9, the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union reached an agreement with Hollywood studios regarding wages, residuals, and production safety. Part of strike protocols and picketing involved artists not promoting any of their new work that involved a union contract, which greatly reduced the amount of publicity that projects were getting.
Major studios, such as Disney and Netflix, decided to withhold trailers and project reveals until the strike ended and actors were able to promote their work. Therefore, on the day that the strike ended, a great amount of announcements were made regarding new TV shows and movies, and several trailers were released. Many projects that were already completed revealed their release dates.
Although there have been rumours of its production since 2016, The Garfield Movie was only officially confirmed after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike. An adaptation, the film will include many of the same characters from the original comic strips.
The story will follow the adventures of Garfield as he reunites with his long-lost father, a street cat named Vic. With an all-star cast, the film features Chris Pratt as Garfield, Samuel L. Jackson as Vic, and Nicholas Hoult as Jon Arbuckle, the owner of Garfield. The movie will make its theatrical debut on May 24, 2024, and will eventually be released on Netflix.
Inside Out first caught the attention of audiences in 2015, with the animated film achieving box office success at $858.8 million. The sequel film, Inside Out 2, was announced in 2022 at the Disney D23 expo. Trailers for this movie have since been released.
The movie will follow Riley, the lead of the original film, as she navigates becoming a teenager and faces new emotions. In the trailer, the emotions from the first film, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Joy, are surprised by a demolition crew who come to make space for new emotions. Though only one new emotion, Anxiety, appears in the trailer, three more will be in the film.
The cast, though largely under wraps, will feature Maya Hawke as Anxiety and Liza Lapira as a re-cast Disgust. Set to release theatrically on June 14, 2024, the move will later be available on Disney+.
Another instalment of a superhero adventure will be making theatrical rounds later in 2024. Venom 3 is set to premiere on Nov. 8, 2024. Though speculated to have been filmed earlier in 2023, a selfie posted on Tom Hardy’s Instagram after the end of the strike showed the actor in costume, revealing that production has only officially begun. Much is unknown about the story of the film, but a few leading cast members have been announced: Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor will be starring alongside Tom Hardy.
Immediately after the end of the strike, casting for season three of the White Lotus began. Key characters have been revealed by Deadline to be “a patriarch, a corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a misfit and a yogi.” However, cast member Jennifer Coolidge reportedly will not be reprising her role as Tanya McQuoid.
This instalment is set to take place in Thailand following last season’s location of Sicily, Italy. Though filming will begin at the end of this year, the new season will only be available on Amazon Prime in 2025.
Finally, details about a sequel to the 2000 film Gladiator have been officially disclosed. Taking place years after the ending of the original, the film will follow Maximus’ son, Lucius, as he embarks on his journey. With many new additions to the cast, the film will star Paul Mescal as Lucius. Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Denzel Washington and Connie Nielson will star as undisclosed characters. The current theatrical premiere date is Nov. 22, 2024, but it is subject to change, as post-production was halted due to the strike.