This is the moment the star-studded cast of ‘Oppenheimer’ walked out of the film’s UK premiere on Thursday 13 July 2023 as thousands of actors went on strike in the biggest strike Hollywood has seen in 60 years.

Footage shows the cast posing for photos together before returning to their hotel in London.

Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh were visibly upset as they left the premiere early, with the film’s director, Christopher Nolan, later saying the actors had left the event to join the strike. They were joined by Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Rami Malek.

Hollywood is set to be ‘paralysed’, it seems, as unions take militant action over the way streaming services are pushing down pay and the growing use of Artificial Intelligence in production.

The last-minute change came after the Screen Actors Guild announced it had voted to take action after a deadline to reach an agreement had passed.

Director Christopher Nolan said of the issue: “You saw them here earlier on the carpet. Unfortunately, they have left to join the strike. We join our voices with the screenwriters union in a fight for fair wages and more. We support them.”

Among the demands of the writers and actors are increases in basic pay and royalties on reruns and playback in the age of streaming TV and protection from Artificial Intelligence.

11,500 screenwriters are participating in the strike, and now, with the participation of the actors, all major studios in the USA are forced to close. Hollywood has not faced two simultaneous strikes since 1960, when members of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild went on strike to demand compensation from the sale of films to television networks.