Terminator Salvation Begins Shooting

Terminator L It looks like the Terminator fears not the wrath of unionized labor! The project will start to roll even though the SAG has yet to strike a deal with studios. We get the following news from the Teamster caves of Yahoo:

Cameras began rolling this week on the latest “Terminator” movie — estimated to cost about $150 million — for what many Hollywood watchers say is a late start given concerns that labor tensions could lead to an actors strike by July. “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins”, began shooting on Monday in New Mexico, bucking a trend in which studios have mostly avoided launching new productions they cannot be sure of completing before the Screen Actors Guild contract expires on June 30, a date being treated as a facto strike deadline.

SAG and Hollywood’s major studios hit a stalemate on Tuesday after three weeks of talks, stoking fears of renewed Hollywood labor unrest after a 100-day screenwriters strike that ended in February. Union leaders say they still hope to reach a deal without resorting to a walkout, and SAG has yet to even seek authorization from its 120,000 members to call a strike.

The SAG is stalling to try and milk as much as they can, but I am going to bet that they will not strike. With the bailing of the AMPTP, they are going to be fucked if they don’t chalk a deal, but the AMPTP does. The SAG will be seen as the less reasoned and co-operatine of the two, pushing the power of AMPTP up and of the SAG down. With luck, everything will be shored up soon, and the two unions can work out the problems between them. Having two separate unions weakens their bargaining power considerably.

Terminator 4 has its own deadlines to meet and I think going forward with production is the right thing to do. If a strike happens; they are fucked - but It’s a gamble they have to take, and I think it’s the lesser of two evils in this situation.

The beginning of production will put to rest rumors that the film has been axed, and with luck, this project will do justice to the terminator universe.