Which 2023 labor strike delayed filming of Michael?

Filming of Michael was delayed by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing roughly 160,000 performers and media professionals, began its strike against the major studios on July 14, 2023. The dispute centered on compensation, streaming-era residuals, auditions, artificial intelligence, and protections for performers’ likenesses and working conditions.

Because Michael is a union-produced feature film with actors covered by SAG-AFTRA, the strike interrupted its production plans. Filming was delayed in September 2023, and production later resumed in January 2024 after the strike ended. The work stoppage was one factor in the film’s shifting release schedule.

The 2023 WGA strike was a separate writers’ strike. It began earlier, in May 2023, and involved the Writers Guild of America, not the actors’ union. That distinction matters because both strikes occurred during the same Hollywood labor crisis and overlapped for several months.

The other options are not the relevant event: there was no 2022 Equity strike or 2024 IATSE strike responsible for this production delay. SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with the studios in November 2023, formally ending the actors’ strike later that month.