Due to some loopholes, some shows and movies can continue shooting despite the WGA and SAG strikes. Dune: The Sisterhood is one production that will continue, even after SAG-AFTRA voted to go on strike, which began today. This is due to a majority of the cast being British, so they are under a different union: Equity.
The cast of Dune: The Sisterhood has some SAG-AFTRA members, but those actors on strike will not slow things down. Equity members will hold things together as they are not legally allowed not to cross the picket line, forcing them to work despite American co-stars having to cease acting.
Dune: The Sisterhood Production Moves Forward Amid SAG-AFTRA Strike
Originally reported by Deadline, Equity members are still trying to show their support “by all lawful means.” The members still have to work or possibly lose their jobs on the Dune prequel series.
Dune: The Sisterhood has had plenty of obstacles to maneuver around beyond the SAG-AFTRA strike. It had shut down production and lost key members this year. It had lost director Johan Renck (Chernobyl); creator, writer, and co-showrunner Diane Ademu-John (The Originals), and stars Shirley Henderson (The Rise of Skywalker) and Indira Varma (Obi-Wan Kenobi). Henderson was replaced by Olivia Williams (The Nevers), and Jodhi May (Gentleman Jack) filled Varma’s spot. Anna Foerster (Outlander) took over Renck’s duties to helm an unknown number of episodes. Alison Schapker (Westworld) is the only showrunner.
Both SAG and WGA are fighting for fair pay, including residuals, knowledge of streaming numbers of a show or movie’s performance, and against studios wanting to replace them with AI. Many movies and shows have halted production, with some never making it to production as pre-productions step on the brakes.
HBO has been moving forward with more projects than Dune: The Sisterhood during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Despite American actors stopping to work, the same loopholes are being used for House of the Dragon season 2. Although these productions move forward to put them in the pipeline of releases, they will likely dry up due to the massive American workforce in the industry.
