Production on Matt Reeves’ Max streaming series The Penguin, a spin-off of The Batman, has come to a halt thanks to the ongoing Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike.
The WGA Strike has officially entered its second week, as the writers of Hollywood look to strike a new deal with studios like Warner Bros. and Disney.
Because of this, a number of titles in the pre-production process have been stimied, with projects like Marvel Studios’ Blade movie being put on ice for the time being.
This has also impacted a number of movies and series in the middle of filming as members of the WGA on production staffs head to picket lines in support of their fellow professionals and even some being halted because of strikers themselves blocking filming.
The Penguin Production Halted
WGA picketers were responsible for the halting of production on Robert Pattinson’s The Batman spin-off The Penguin on Tuesday, as the Warner Bros. Discovery project was set to continue filming in Westchester, New York.
Deadline reported the production shutdown, noting that filming was going to be shut down for the day after Teamsters and local guilds refused to cross the picket line.
Writers reacted to the production shutdown on Twitter, hurling DC-infused quips on Twitter like “Breaking news: we have spoken Truth to Penguin:”
“Breaking news: we have spoken Truth to Penguin
The WGA Dawn Patrol has shut Penguin down for the day.
No more folks needed in Sleepy Hollow. WGA Strong”
This comes as a number of super-powered projects have been shuttered in recent days because of the job action, including Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man (currently filming in Hollywood) and Daredevil: Born Again.
How Will the Strike Impact The Penguin?
Seeing as The Penguin is already written and is in the middle of filming, one would think The Batman spin-off would be safe from the writers’ strike, but that does not seem to be the case.
While one day of filming being missed is not the end of the world, if this becomes a regular thing (which it very well could), this has the chance of significantly affecting both when fans see the project and what it looks like when it ultimately does release.
One also has to account for the impact of not having writers on the set of The Penguin on those days of filming that are not closed down due to picketers. Even after the script is written, writers play a key part while cameras are rolling, rewriting scenes that may have worked on the page but not on set.
And with word that “the strike isn’t ending anytime soon,” this lack of writers during filming day could greatly factor into Warner Bros.’s final product.
Luckily, it seemed like Colin Farrell’s Gotham City streaming series was deep into filming by the time the writers’ strike hit.
Sure, the strike will end up having some sort of effect on Matt Reeves’ expansion of his Robert Pattinson Batman universe (as it has for many high-profile productions currently underway) – it will just be a matter of how much.
No known release timing has been announced for The Penguin.
