The Indian Box Office is bracing for the ripples of the ongoing strike by Hollywood screenwriters and actors, which has stalled the production of a number of films.
Movies such as Deadpool 3 (May 3, 2024), Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part II (June 28, 2024), Captain America: Brave New World (July 26, 2024), Transformers One (September 13, 2024), Gladiator 2 (Nov. 24, 2024), Thunderbolts (December 20, 2024), Fantastic Four (May 2, 2025), Avatar 3 (December 19, 2025), Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 1, 2026), Lilo & Stitch, Venom 3, Brad Pitt’s untitled film on F1, Mortal Kombat 2, Wicked, Mission: Impossible 8, Beetlejuice 2, Interview with The Vampire, and Juror #2 are among those that have paused filming because of the strike.
Even if not immediately, the impact will be felt in time as Hollywood films are released in India in English and dubbed into Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, according to Indian film trade analyst Komal Nahta.
This is especially significant as Indian exhibitors have recently been left to bank on Hollywood films such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, Barbie and Oppenheimer to bring in the footfalls as Hindi films have not fared too well at the Box Office yet again after the brief respite from Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan’s blockbuster run.
Nahta pointed out that Hollywood films’ contribution to the Indian BO is just 5-6%. But the competition they pose to Bollywood films is formidable. “With Hindi films not faring well, what is saving the Indian exhibitors now is Hollywood films. If the strike is not called off and the pipeline of Hollywood films also dries up, it will be time to press the panic button,” he said.
Typically, Hindi films account for the lion’s share of the Indian Box Office revenues. But post-pandemic, the share has shrunk to about a third. Between January and June 2023, the cumulative India gross box office collection stood at Rs 4,868 crore—which is 15% lower than the same period in 2022, according to consultancy firm Ormax Media’s figures.
This is the first time in 63 years that both Writers Guild of America, which represents screenwriters, and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents 160,000 actors, are on strike simultaneously.
The writers have been on strike since May 2, while the actors joined in on July 14. They are on strike for reasons ranging from better pay to the threat from Artificial Intelligence. With the actors joining in, it means that actors part of the SAG-AFTRA can neither act in films nor promote then anywhere in the world, essentially bringing Hollywood to a halt. For instance, the Oppenheimer cast walked out of the London premiere as soon as the strike began.