The Writers Guild of America strike has already started having a major impact on Hollywood, with Daredevil: Born Again forced to halt production mid-shoot in New York and work on the troubled Blade at a complete standstill.
With many streaming TV shows written in advance, the likes of The Acolyte and Andor are able to continue shooting, though problems tend to arise when the main writer is also a showrunner and executive producer. That's the case with Tony Gilroy, anyway, and while he completed work on Andor's scripts prior to the strike, it's now been confirmed that he will not be working on the Rogue One prequel in any capacity.
This comes after reports that Gilroy was still producing the Disney+ series, contributing to everything from casting to music-related duties. However, the showrunner now confirms that he hasn't been on set at all since the strike started on May 2.
"I discontinued all writing and writing-related work on Andor prior to midnight, May 1," he tells The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com). "After being briefed on the Saturday showrunner meeting, I informed Chris Keyser at the WGA on Sunday morning that I would also be ceasing all non-writing producing functions."
This comes after another writer, Abdullah Saeed, demanded to see Andor's complete scripts and argued that if there's a single difference between those and what we see on screen, Gilroy should be kicked out of the WGA.
Disney has reportedly told showrunners that they're expected to continue with their contractually obligated non-writing duties amid this strike, though that's been incredibly divisive and poorly received for the most part. The House of Mouse is also likely to struggle when it comes to enforcing this rule.
There's no way Andor will do anything other than suffer without its showrunner's presence, especially as it means no on-set rewrites can take place. Without Gilroy there to call the shots, it's also unclear who's in charge.
Andor season 2 is currently set to premiere on Disney+ in August 2024.