(Reuters) – Warner Bros. Discovery warned on Tuesday that its annual profit would be hit by an ongoing strike by actors and screenwriters in Hollywood.
The social movement, which shows no signs of easing, has forced the Californian film industry to interrupt a large part of its productions.
The film release schedule has also been upended by the actors’ strike, with many celebrities refusing to appear on red carpets or promote in the media.
Last month, film studio Warner Bros. decided to postpone the release of the big-budget film “Dune 2”, originally scheduled for November, until March.
So far, Warner Bros Discovery had issued a financial forecast for 2023 including a strike stoppage in early September.
Faced with the continuation of the movement, the group now expects its annual adjusted profit to be reduced by 300 million to 500 million dollars, to be between 10.5 billion and 11 billion dollars.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Warner Bros Discovery shares fell 1% in early trading.
The group’s CEO, David Zaslav, is due to attend a conference with investors on Wednesday and is expected to discuss, among other things, the impact of the ongoing strike, Warner Bros. said.
The studio raised its annual cash flow forecast to at least $5 billion, with more than $1.7 billion generated in the third quarter alone thanks in particular to the performance of the film “Barbie”.
(Report Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bangalore, Blandine Hénault for the , edited by Zhifan Liu)
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