‘Oppenheimer’ Star Emily Blunt And Cast Leave London Premiere As SAG-AFTRA Strike Is Called – Update

EXCLUSIVE (UPDATED below with actors leaving): The London premiere of Oppenheimer is underway — but not all of the stars stuck around for the screening as SAG-AFTRA officially called a strike Thursday.

While walking the red carpet today, star Emily Blunt made a vow to her fellow actors, who woke up to news that a deal wasn’t reached last night between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP.

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Speaking to Deadline, Blunt said: “I think right now we are just sorting of … I hope everyone makes a fair deal and we are here to celebrate this movie. And if they call it, we’ll be leaving together as cast in unity with everyone … We are gonna have to. We are gonna have to. We will see what happens. Right now it’s the joy to be together.”

(UPDATED: The actors departed the venue before the screening, writer-director Christopher Nolan said from the stage later in the day before the movie was shown. Deadline understands the cast members who exited went out for dinner in the West End. Later, Nolan and his creative team left for dinner with some Universal executives; some of the cast ate separately due to SAG-AFTRA regulations about accepting studio hospitality while on strike.)

Also on the London red carpet, Matt Damon said the Hollywood strikes will be brutal for actors and his own production company, which has shut down one of his company’s films, but added: “If our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that’s fair for working actors. It’s the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we gotta do what’s right by them.”

Co-star Kenneth Branagh also weighed in:

Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke off late Wednesday. The guild’s national board met this morning to formally approve the launch of a strike.

This is the first actors strike against the film and television industry since 1980 and the first time that actors and writers have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild. Picketing is set to begin Friday morning.

The London premiere of Universal’s largely anticipated title Oppenheimer went ahead despite the threat of the strike.

Nolan was there along with other cast members Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and James D’Arcy.

Nolan’s film is a biographical thriller about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons on the Manhattan Project. It’s set for a July 21 release through Universal Pictures and will go head-to-head with Warner Bros. Discovery title Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

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