It's a key moment: Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan expresses support for actors' strike

British-American Christopher Nolan, whose highly-anticipated film Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy in the lead, is now less than a week away from release, has opened up about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike that effectively shut down Hollywood. This follows the strike by WGA (Writers Guild of America), induced by similar issues, which began in May. While speaking to the BBC during the film's premiere in London, Nolan said he will not film a new movie until the strikes are resolved. He stressed the significance of the moment for the relationship between working individuals and Hollywood, stating, "No, absolutely. It's very important that everybody understands it is a very key moment in the relationship between working people and Hollywood."

Also Read:Explained | The implications of SAG-AFTRA strike, and what lies ahead

He added, "This is not about me, this is not about the stars of my film. This is about jobbing actors, this is about staff writers on television programs trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table." Nolan expressed his belief that streaming platforms have not yet adjusted to the challenges of the streaming era, where they retain exclusive rights to their content instead of licensing it to other broadcasters.

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"[Streamers] have not yet accommodated how they're going to in this new world of streaming, and a world where they're not licensing their products out to other broadcasters - they're keeping them for themselves. They have not yet offered to pay appropriately to the unions' working members, and it's very important that they do so. I think you'd never want a strike, you never want industrial action. But there are times where it's necessary. This is one of those times," said Nolan.

Also Read:Hollywood studios seek to replace background actors with AI after one day's pay

Oppenheimer cast leaves to picket for SAG-AFTRA strike

Earlier, in a show of solidarity with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the cast of Oppenheimer staged a walkout during the film's UK premiere in London. SAG-AFTRA officially initiated a strike against studios and streaming platforms on July 14.

What is Oppenheimer all about?

As mentioned above, Nolan's star-studded film follows the life and times of one J Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist who is called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his contribution to the Manhattan Project, which led to the invention of the atomic bomb. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of JRobert Oppenheimer written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J Sherwin. Also in the cast are Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh. The film releases on July 21.

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