Disney’s Bob Iger Says Summer 2024 Slate Could Be Effected If Actors’ Strike Continues “Much Longer”

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the studio may have to delay its summer blockbuster slate next year.

November 8, 2023, 4:54pm

Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Inc., left, and Bob Iger, chief executive officer of Walt Disney Co., center, walk to lunch during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, US, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. The summit is typically a hotbed for etching out mergers over handshakes, but could take on a much different tone this year against the backdrop of lackluster deal volume, inflation and higher interest rates. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

If the actors’ strike continues for an extended period of time, Hollywood will have to delay much of its 2024 summer block slate. That much is from Disney chief Bob Iger, who appeared on CNBC ahead of the company’s latest earnings report.

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“I have the utmost respect for actors,” Iger said in the CNBC chat. “I can only say that I’m optimistic that we’ll figure that out relatively soon. In terms of the impact on the business, so far, it’s been negligible. Long-term, meaning if the strike goes on much longer, it could become significant. Obviously, we’d like to try to preserve a summer of films, the entire industry is focused on that, we don’t have much time to do that.”

Earlier this week, it was reported SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP officials would head back to the negotiating table, despite the latter group entering its “last and final” offer over the weekend.

Why is SAG-AFTRA striking?

AI has been one of the biggest sticking points for SAG-AFTRA in ongoing negotiations, with guild officials saying studios want to digitally recreate actors’ likenesses with no compensation to the actors.

“We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began,” SAG-AFTRA told the membership (via Variety) earlier this fall. “These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue YOUR work generates for them.”

“The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA – putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning our solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators,” the union told Variety. “But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that and will not be fooled.”

Through Wednesday, the SAG-AFTRA strike has been underway for 118 days.