Apple Suspends Numerous Overall Deals as Strike Rages On
The streamer’s roster includes Martin Scorsese, Tom Hanks — but it's not clear who yet was cut
Amid the ongoing strikes, Apple TV+ has suspended a broad swath of overall deals with talent and producers this week, The Ankler has learned exclusively.
The suspensions occurred on Wednesday, the 136th day of the Writers Guild of America strike and 63rd day of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Apple is the latest entertainment company to pause its working relationship with certain talent, following other studios doing the same with its overalls and first looks.
Among those who had been previously announced as having deals with Apple include Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone, Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, The Morning Show exec producer Mimi Leder, and Theresa Kang-Lowe of Blue Marble, among others.
When asked to confirm names of those suspended, Apple declined comment.
Earlier, Warner Bros. Discovery suspended deals with high-profile producers Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling and more; Disney suspended deals with Not Dead Yet’s Gina Rodriguez, Grown-ish’s Yara Shahidi, and This Is Us’ Justin Hartley, Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore; NBCUniversal suspended all non-writing producer deals including Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video and Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions; while CBS Studios paused certain term deals, including those with Dr. Phil McGraw, Devon Franklin and Lis Rowinski.
With the work stoppage now over four months in, there have not yet been any deal terminations but it’s our understanding that if a deal isn’t struck within the next month, force majeure action could be considered as soon as November. The WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said on Thursday that they are looking to restart negotiations as soon as next week, after The Ankler reported on a failed whisper campaign by agents to get top showrunners to meet with WGA leadership.
The deals that continue to breathe likely would be those that have active productions or imminent releases. Scorsese, for example, has the much-anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon coming to theaters in October (and then to Apple TV+), an endeavor that will require promotional muscle from its director and talent.