"Venom 3" Suspends Production due to SAG-AFTRA Strike

"Venom 3" is the latest high-profile project to be struck off by the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Sony Pictures suspended production on its Spider-Man Universe spin-off on Friday.  The strike, which was announced Thursday and called into effect at midnight on Friday, comes just weeks after filming on the threequel began in late June in Spain. 

The third chapter of the Tom Hardy antihero saga joins Marvel Studios' "Deadpool 3", Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two", and Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" sequel on the Hollywood sidelines.

Kelly Marcel, who wrote and produced 2018's "Venom" and 2021's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", is directing from her script. Hardy shares a story credit on the as-yet-untitled Venom 3.

Per the SAG strike rules, performers are barred from rendering all services and performing all work covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts that expired on June 30th. 

The list of prohibited services includes but is not limited to principal on-camera work — acting, performing stunts, performance capture or motion capture work — as well as principal off-camera work like ADR [automated dialogue replacement]/looping, voice acting, scanning, rehearsals and camera tests, and fittings, wardrobe tests, and makeup tests.

"Venom 3" plot details remain under wraps. Before the SAG strike, the cast set Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) and Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises) in undisclosed roles. 

Hardy, who last appeared in the post-credits scene of 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home", reprises his role as Eddie Brock, who bonds with an alien symbiote to become the lethal protector called Venom.

Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker are serving as producers on the latest entry of Sony's Spider-Man Universe that will follow last year's "Morbius" and the upcoming "Kraven the Hunter".

It will be a while long before fans get a taste of "Venom 3". Not only can its cast not promote the movie for the duration of the SAG strike but also Sony Pictures is sitting out San Diego Comic-Con 2023. The studio's upcoming 2023 releases include "Gran Turismo" and "Kraven the Hunter".

"Venom 3" is expected to release in theaters in October 2024.