Strike unexpectedly claims 'Angels & Demons' as victim
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Wow, this is pretty big news. We all read about how Akiva Goldsman was working night and day to finish off the script for Angels & Demons, a follow-up to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Everything looked good and they were one of the big projects that looked as if he had cleared the deadline. Turns out they didn't quite make it.
Says Variety:
"While the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong, we do not believe it is the fully realized production draft required of this ambitious project," a Sony spokesperson said. "At this time, there is no new start date for 'Angels & Demons,' but we are setting a release date of May 15, 2009, and are hopeful to deliver the movie worldwide to theaters on that date. We do not expect any other film on our 2008 slate to be affected."
The studios have been singing their own praises for stockpiling scripts up to a year before the negotiations began (yeah, which side really wanted a strike again?) and it looked like their had all their ducks in a row. This is a huge win for writers who have the least strength of any union in terms of how quickly they can shut down production. I'd like to note though that a win for striking writers is not the same thing as good news - nobody thinks this is good news.
Goldsman didn't want this, the studio didn't want this, and the WGA didn't want it either. But it had to happen to force the studios to sit down and bargain. This is a win for the audience too, since it'll mean Angels & Demons won't go into production during the strike with a rough script that can't be changed.
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