Days before the release of Oppenheimer, filmmaker Christopher Nolan made it clear that he would not work on another film till the historic, ongoing double strike of Hollywood writers and actors ended. The stars of his twelfth directorial left the July 13 London premiere midway as a sign of protest. The biopic is still expected to bring home $75 million in the first three days of its release worldwide, as per film journal, Deadline.

Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig’s pink interplay about dolls and humans, Barbie, that was released the same day as Oppenheimer, is doing even better, and is set to clock in $150 million in the three days. While Gerwig’s partner and co-creator, Noah Baumbach, skipped the premiere of the film on July 9 in Los Angeles, Gerwig herself came out in support of the strike: “Nothing in Hollywood happens without writers”.

One of the biggest summer weekends in Hollywood, dubbed Barbenheimer, has come just as the actors—members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA)—voted to join Writers Guild of America (on strike since May 2) in fighting the studios and streamers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The dispute concerns the demand for fair contracts and payments, an equitable share of profits, improved work conditions and also, opposition to the specter of Artificial Intelligence that might replace human talent.

While the two blockbusters have escaped the effects of the strike, uncertainty looms large for the forthcoming films. It’s not just about actors joining the picket lines and refusing to work for companies like Disney and Netflix, but also the guild guidelines which deny their participation in film promotions in any manner, be it attending red-carpet premieres, giving interviews across media, or publishing social media posts. How will it affect the fate of The Haunted Mansion—starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder among others—that is to get released on July 28? What about Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part II scheduled for release in October and November respectively? How will the big fall fests—Telluride, Venice, and Toronto—get impacted?

There’s already news that Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, starring Zendaya, that was set to be the opening film at Venice, has been pulled out. Also, Deepika Padukone, a member of the SAG-AFTRA won’t be participating in the launch of the upcoming Project K at the San Diego Comic-Con in the USA. With film shoots and production work on hold and release dates likely to get shuffled, the Hollywood calendar is set to turn upside down. But it’s a small price to pay for the larger good of the filmmaking community. As Nolan himself said in a BBC interview: “This is about jobbing actors, this is about staff writers on television programmes trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table.” Where does Hollywood go from here?