Director Ryan Coogler is sharing his thoughts about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood, eliminating any hope for a timely release of the highly anticipated third installment of Black Panther.
For context, the strike began in May of this year when the Writers Guild of America, consisting of over 11,000 screenwriters, demanded higher pay and more residuals. Two months later, in July, the SAG-AFTRA union joined the WGA strike following a failed negotiation deal about compensation in light of streaming popularity.
In a July 19 interview with Clutch Points, while promoting his latest project, a Stephen Curry documentary titled Stephen Curry: Underrated, Coogler revealed that he doesn’t plan to work on anything else for the time being in solidarity with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. The 37-year-old WGA member has previously worked with SAG-AFTRA whenever he shot a film.
“Right now, there are a couple of incredibly important strikes happening. One in the union that I’m a member of — the WGA — and another in a union that I work with every time I gotta work [and] make a film, the Screen Actors Guild [SAG-AFTRA]. [They’re] very important moments right now [because] the whole world is watching just from a labor perspective and how labor interacts with corporations.”
Further into the conversation, Coogler also clarified that the documentary was a “non-WGA generated work” due to it being a nonfiction piece and that he, alongside his production team Proximity Media and Stephen Curry: Underrated‘s director Peter Nicks was able to complete the project even after the strike began.
“So I’m operating right now in solidarity with my union and thankfully with Underrated, it started with non-WGA generated work and it’s a nonfiction piece, [so] we’re able to still work in that capacity and we work at full capacity on that side of our company at Proximity [Media]. But for all the other stuff, man, we’re not working at all in solidarity with our comrades.”
Talks about the third installment of Black Panther began almost immediately following the success of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The movie debuted in theaters last year, grossing over $849 million worldwide, and received praise from both fans and critics. Its accomplishments didn’t end there, as the film also won various awards and earned several nominations, including five Oscar nominations.
Although it is unclear when production for Black Panther 3 will begin, this news may disappoint fans because this will be the second time production has been delayed for the beloved franchise. Before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s release last year, the film’s production was postponed due to Chadwick Boseman’s passing, Letitia Wright’s injury, and the global pandemic as well.
Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney Plus.