The last WGA strike ran for 14 weeks between November 2007 to February 2008.
And as the Writers Guild of America unite once more, in a strike which kicked off in May and continues to go on, a legion of TV shows and movies are being impacted due to the strict rules and regulations.
Back in 2007, the strike caused a resounding impact on Hollywood, as a number of movies which were tipped for greatness were met with lacklustre reviews and mediocre finished results due to the stringent restrictions of the time.
From Daniel Craig admitting Team Bond were f**ked to Channing Tatum insisting her ‘hates’ his film of the era, stars have been vocal in how their careers suffered.
So which projects were hit hardest in the last strikes?
A sign of things to come? A look at TV and movies were affected by WGA 2008 Strikes
Oh dear: From Daniel Craig admitting Team Bond were f**ked to Channing Tatum insisting her ‘hates’ his film of the era, stars have been vocal in how their careers suffered
Horror: Channing Tatum has been candid about his embarrassment over the movie
Ouch: After the wildly-popular Casino Royale was lauded by critics in 2006, 2008’s Quantum Of Solace was met with a far more tepid response
QUANTUM OF SOLACE, 2008: ‘We were f**ked’
After the wildly-popular Casino Royale was lauded by critics in 2006, 2008’s Quantum Of Solace was met with a far more tepid response.
Director Mark Forster and 007 himself Daniel Craig attributed this to the 2007-08 writers strike, which tied in at the exact time of shooting.
In 2012, Daniel revealed Paul Haggis’ original script landed on his desk just two hours before the strike was announced.
Subsequently, rewrites and amendments from the experts were no longer available – leaving the leading man in the hot seat for the task.
He said: ‘I wrote the script myself. We were f***ed. We had a bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do. There was me trying to rewrite scenes, and a writer I am not…
‘Me and Mark Forster were the ones allowed to do it. The rules were that you couldn’t employ anyone as a writer, but the actor and director could work on scenes together. We were stuffed.’
Legendary Bond producer Barbara Broccoli continued: ‘We were kind of screwed, and we all had to muddle in and try and make the story work, and it wasn’t really working that great.’
Shock: In 2011, Michael Bay – the brains behind Transformers – admitted that the writers strikes destroyed the movie, which was slammed by critics
![He said: 'The real fault with [Transformers 2] is that it ran into a mystical world'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/22/12/75725907-12549225-image-a-65_1695382814931.jpg)
He said: ‘The real fault with [Transformers 2] is that it ran into a mystical world’
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, 2009: ‘It was crap’
In 2011, Michael Bay – the brains behind Transformers – admitted that the writers strikes destroyed the movie, which was slammed by critics.
He said: ‘The real fault with [Transformers 2] is that it ran into a mystical world…
‘When I look back at it, that was crap. The writers’ strike was coming hard and fast. It was just terrible to do a movie where you’ve got to have a story in three weeks.’
Michael also discussed the upsetting impact in 2010, saying: ‘I’ll take some of the criticism. It was very hard to put it together that quickly after the writers’ strike.’
The films lead Shia LaBeouf also spoke of his disappoitment at the turn of events with the movie, which netted $836m at the box office. ‘
He said: ‘When I saw the second movie, I wasn’t impressed with what we did. There were some really wild stunts in it, but the heart was gone.’
Ouch: The first ever X-Men sequel, fronted by Hugh Jackman, was another victim of the strike, with slap-dash writing and speedy production leading to a lacklustre result
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, 2009: ‘I wrote all my dialogue’
The first ever X-Men sequel, fronted by Hugh Jackman, was another victim of the strike, with slap-dash writing and speedy production leading to a lacklustre result.
Despite making $373 million at the box office, both fans and critics were not happy.
Ryan Reynolds, in his role as antihero Wade Wilson – also known as Deadpool, made an appearance in the movie, although far from finessed script writing, he penned his own dialogue.
He previously said: ‘It was during a writers’ strike, so all my dialogue in X-Men Origins: Wolverine I wrote. I mean, in the stage directions it just said, ‘Deadpool shows up, talks really fast, and makes a lot of jokes.’…
‘At the beginning of that movie, that’s pretty close to Deadpool’s Wade Wilson—we’re in the ballpark with that guy. If you watch the movie, I’m actually playing only a small section, and another actor, this gifted stunt performer, is doing the lion’s share of that work…
‘The conversation at the time was ‘If you want to play Deadpool, this is your chance to introduce him. And if you don’t want to introduce him in this fashion, we’ll have someone else play him.’
ShockL The Channing Tatum fronted movie was written by Stuart Beattie in the lead-up to the strike which producer Laurence di Bonaventura insisted was ‘inhuman’
G. I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, 2009: ‘It was inhuman’
The Channing Tatum fronted movie was written by Stuart Beattie in the lead-up to the strike which producer Laurence di Bonaventura insisted was ‘inhuman’.
He said: ‘Given what’s at stake and the time we have left, our writers on every project are working under inhuman amounts of pressure.’
Channing later professed that he ‘f**king hates that movie’.
Speaking about the film, which made $302.4 million in the box office, he said: ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I f–king hate that movie. I hate that movie! I was pushed into doing that movie, from Coach Carter. The script wasn’t any good’.
Alarming: The script for JJ Abrams’ take on the franchise was completed when the strike kicked off however he revealed how they were impacted
STAR TREK, 2009: ‘It was ridiculous’
The script for JJ Abrams’ take on the franchise was completed when the strike kicked off however he revealed how they were impacted.
The movie mogul revealed he and writer Damon Lindelof would think up funny alternate lines – however would be flouting rules if they applied them.
Speaking about what he went through, he revealed: ‘It was ridiculous. In the morning, I’d go to picket at Paramount as a writer…
‘Then when my call time happened, I would have to put down the signs and go in as a director and work on a movie [Star Trek] that we couldn’t rewrite because the script had to be locked”.
Cut down: The first season of the hit drama was reduced to just two episodes due to the strikes – leaving the character of Hank killed off
BREAKING BAD, 2008: ‘I was ready to throw the kitchen sink at it’
The first season of the hit drama was reduced to just two episodes due to the strikes – leaving the character of Hank killed off.
Creator Vince Gilligan said: ‘We were writing and shooting and editing in a vacuum, no one had seen the show yet, and I really had the feeling that I needed to throw the kitchen sink at it, that the writers and I needed to get every bit of drama.
‘The writers’ strike came along, and we didn’t get to do our last two episodes. We had to end our season one with seven episodes instead of nine…
‘Our ninth episode that year, we were seriously leaning toward killing off Hank, Walt’s brother-in-law, played by Dean Norris, in that first season.
‘I was ready, willing to throw the kitchen sink at it, because I was afraid we wouldn’t hold people’s attention.’
That was then: Scrubs’ seventh season originally aired on NBC between October 25, 2007 and May 8, 2008 and averaged 6.38m viewers per show and received one Emmy nomination
SCRUBS, 2007: ‘I will use all my leverage’
Scrubs’ seventh season originally aired on NBC between October 25, 2007 and May 8, 2008 and averaged 6.38m viewers per show and received one Emmy nomination.
Despite its undoubted success, the strikes meant that only 11 out of the 18 episodes ordered were made. NBC decided not to finish the full 18 episode billing, thus causing the episode ‘My Commitment’ to be uncompleted.
Showrunnner Bill Lawrence decided not to create a sudden ending and put the pressure on NBC to make the remaining six episodes.
NBC decided against doing this left the show after 12 episodes. After all eleven episodes aired, ABC picked up Scrubs for Season Eight.
Of completing the finale, he said: ‘I will use all my leverage to end this show properly, even if it means I have to do all the voices myself and call people up to read it over the phone.’
The end: Despite its undoubted success, the strikes meant that only 11 out of the 18 episodes ordered were made. NBC decided not to finish the full 18 episode billing, thus causing the episode ‘My Commitment’ to be uncompleted
