MOVIE NEWS – It has long been known that the seventh opus of the Mission: Impossible franchise will be released in two parts (as is the case with the last part of Fast X). The filming of Mission: Impossible Showdown Part One was hampered by Covid-19, but fortunately the film has been completed and will be shown soon.

The Part Two is planned to be released next year, but a serious problem has arisen again: the Hollywood screenwriters’ strike. As Christopher McQuarrie, the veteran director of the franchise, complained to Empire magazine, they are in a merciless situation, because they find that after every tsunami comes the next one, so the production has been in constant tsunami readiness for quite some time. The director confirmed that 40 percent of Part Two has already been shot, and for the time being it seems that the production can be completed by next summer, at most a minor modification may be needed regarding the date of the presentation.

The professional organization of American film and TV screenwriters (WGA) is very strong, the last time they went on strike was in 2007-2008, when the economy of the state of California suffered 2.1 billion dollars as a result. The demands are similar now as they were then: like all decent trade unions, they want to raise wages and create a sustainable career model. And as always, the situation is complicated. With the rise of streaming platforms – led by Netflix with more than 230 million subscribers globally – the field has become fragmented, the busiest authors earn very handsome sums, while the less well-established ones do not see their professional future secured, at least financially. Moreover, in the intensifying competition, the big studios have started to tighten their belts, Disney has just laid off 7,000 employees, so the WGA strike is actually a preemptive strike. The writers want to fight for more favorable conditions until all hell breaks loose.

(Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One – domestic release: July 13, 2023.)

Source: UIP Dunafilm