Hollywood strikes causing delays

LOS ANGELES — The ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes — now into their fifth and third months, respectively — have upended production schedules across Hollywood as industry creatives demand better protections, fair compensation and new regulations and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence. And the major studios are feeling it. The delays have already had a devastating effect on Hollywood, which was just starting to recover after the pandemic brought it to a standstill.

Much of Disney’s Marvel slate has been pushed back, including the hotly anticipated “Blade,” which has been delayed five months from Sept. 6, 2024, to Feb. 14, 2025. “Fantastic Four” moves from Valentine’s Day 2025 to May 2, 2025.

“Captain America: Brave New World,” the first film in which Anthony Mackie’s newly minted Cap assumes the mantle, has been pushed to July 26, 2024, thereby delaying “Thunderbolts” from that day to Dec. 20.

Two upcoming “Avengers” movies, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” have been pushed back a year, to May 2026 and May 2027, respectively. “Deadpool 3” — the first film in the franchise to be a part of the MCU — is among the few movies to advance its premiere date, from Nov. 8, 2024, to May 3.

“Spider-Man 4,” produced in collaboration with Sony and confirmed to feature Tom Holland resuming his role as the webslinger, is undated. And Sony’s animated “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” originally expected in March 2024, has been delayed indefinitely.

Two of Sony’s Spider-Man villain spinoffs, “Kraven the Hunter” and “Venom 3,” also have been affected by the strikes. The former shifts from October 2023 to August 2024 while “Venom 3” actually moves up, from October 2024 to July of that year.

Elsewhere on Disney’s slate, live-action reimaginings of “Lilo & Stitch” and “Moana” have been moved to an undisclosed date and June 2025, respectively.

On the TV side, acclaimed HBO and Max series, including “The Last of Us,” “Euphoria,” “House of the Dragon,” “Hacks” and “The White Lotus,” have been pushed back to 2025 and beyond or removed from the release calendar altogether. Highly anticipated shows such as the upcoming “Game of Thrones” spinoff “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight” and “The Batman” spinoff “The Penguin” are now undated.