Strike Force

As the dreaded writers' strike wears on, it is not just television being affected anymore. If that wasn't bad enough in itself, several bombs were dropped this week, with one announcement after another that various film projects have been put on hold due directly to the strike. The films cannot proceed without their writers, who are needed to put the final spit and polish on their screenplays before they could start filming.

While some of the stalled movies are of the "no big loss" variety (The Da Vinci Code prequel Angels and Demons), and some have reportedly dodged the bullet so far (the comics-based Wolverine and Justice League movies, the latter of which we are still waiting for a cast list on, by the way), several high-profile productions have hit the roadblock, most notably the anticipated big screen adaptation of the stage musical Nine from director Rob Marshall (which reportedly has also lost Catherine Zeta-Jones as a star), as well as Mira Nair's Shantaram (starring Johnny Depp) and Oliver Stone's Pinkville. And while Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic (titled simply Milk, Sean Penn will star, although the previously rumored Matt Damon is not involved) has the studio go-ahead, apparently producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron's adaptation of Randy Shilts' The Mayor of Castro Street (which was to be directed by Bryan Singer) is now in limbo.

On the other side of the country from Hollywood, Broadway is still partially crippled with an ongoing stagehands strike. Although the limited run of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas has been allowed to resume performances for the time being, and Off Broadway is getting a welcome boost (including Charles Busch's Die Mommie Die!), Disney was dealt a blow when they had to postpone the eagerly awaited opening of The Little Mermaid.

If these strikes continue much longer, we may not have much to talk about around here, although here's an idea for the movie studios: how about re-releasing some classics to theaters? If the television networks can show reruns, why can't you?

Links via Reuters.com, Cinematical.com, Playbill.com, Variety.com, Broadway.com and NYBlade.com.