Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr’s ‘Oppenheimer’ New York red carpet cancelled amid SAG AFTRA strike

Washington DC [US], July 15 (ANI): Actors Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr’s upcoming film Oppenheimer’s New York red carpet was cancelled amid the ongoing SAG AFTRA strike.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based media outlet, the ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ premiere, scheduled for July 18 in Los Angeles with stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Kelly, was the first carpet to be scrapped, followed by Christopher Nolan’s next Oppenheimer‘s red carpet in New York, which was set for July 17.
“In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of Oppenheimer will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film,” Universal said in a statement.

The strike began at midnight on Friday, with actors taking to the picket line that morning.

According to the guidelines, the union’s 160,000 affected members are prohibited from all principal on-camera and off-camera work, such as voice-acting and narration, as well as participating in promotional activity including premieres, interviews, festivals, FYC events, award shows and podcasts, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The London premiere of ‘Oppenheimer’ was barely finished on time after Universal moved the carpet time up by an hour to allow the star-studded ensemble to take photos and conduct interviews before the strike began. When the strike was called, actors Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Cillian Murphy left the event before the screening.

The biopic, set during World War II, follows Oppenheimer, known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” during a period in history when he understood that testing the atomic bomb would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world, yet he pushed the button anyway.