Talks to resume as writers strike enters third week

Nov 19, 2007, 17:29 GMT

Los Angeles - The Hollywood screenwriters strike entered its third week Monday with both sides agreeing to resume talks as the toll of the stoppage continued to grow.

Representatives of the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & TV Producers announced that they are planning to resume contract negotiations on November 26, despite the producers' previous demand that all picketing needed to cease before the alliance would return to the table. The writers guild says it plans to continue picketing in both Los Angeles and New York until a settlement is reached.

The sides agreed to the move after intensive back channel contacts laid the foundation for talks late last week. The dialogue was facilitated by leading Hollywood talent agent Bryan Lourd, but public officials like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have also been involved in the negotiations.

The strike already has already axed production of many TV series, including The Office, Desperate Housewives and all the late night talk shows.

Over the weekend, movie studios also announced delays in film production. Sony's Columbia Pictures said it was pushing back the release of Angels & Demons, the prequel to the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code because the screenplay by Akiva Goldsman is not camera- ready.

Columbia's Edwin A Salt, a spy thriller with Tom Cruise attached, has also been pushed back, while Warner Bros has postponed production of Justice League of America. Another project under threat is Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to Borat, which is reliant on constant updates from writers.

Also put on hold is Oliver Stone's next politically charged dramatic thriller, Pinkville, starring Bruce Willis and Woody Harrelson, about the 1968 My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.