With contract negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP looking increasingly tenuous, TheWrap asked Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige how strongly a Hollywood writers’ strike might impact the studio’s upcoming projects.
His answer: Not very.
“I think the whole industry will be affected, but we’ve seen it coming for a while now, and yes it moved up deadlines,” Feige told TheWrap Thursday during the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” press junket in West Hollywood.
Marvel is safe in 2017, with “Guardians 2” set for May 5, followed by the July 7 debut of “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and “Thor: Ragnarok” on November 3 (“Ragnarok” is currently in postproduction) in 2017. And “Black Panther,” which hits theaters February 16, wrapped filming this week. But what about 2018?
“Most of the movies that we’ve talked about publicly will be okay,” Feige says. “For a few of them, depending on how long it lasts, there will be repercussions. But certainly the ones filming or the ones about to start filming have scripts and are set.”
“None of the 2018 movies will be affected,” added Feige. “Most of them are set. What it would really impact is future work on future projects.”
Marvel has announced a slate of films that carries the studio through mid-2019. This includes “Avengers: Infinity War,” scheduled for on May 4, 2018, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” set for July 6, the still-untitled sequel to “Avengers: Infinity War” set for May 3, 2019, and a sequel to “Spider-Man: Homecoming” due July 5, 2019. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was announced earlier this week, but no release date has been set.
Marvel has not announced any projects beyond 2019.