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The eagerly-anticipated sequel to Aussie box office hit The Dry has been pushed back, just weeks ahead of its scheduled premiere.

Force of Nature: The Dry 2, the follow-up to 2021 thriller The Dry, was due to hit cinemas on August 24 but will now be postponed indefinitely amid the ongoing Hollywood strike.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), which represents 160,000 performers, called a strike last week, joining writers in the first industry-wide shutdown in more than 60 years after last-ditch negotiations failed.

Nearly all film and television production has now ground to a halt, impacting thousands.

The Dry 2 star and producer, Eric Bana, said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision was made “with some regret” but “a large amount of conviction”.

“I’m incredibly proud of this much anticipated Australian film and want to be able to do it justice by promoting it thoroughly,” the actor said.

“Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, of which I am a longstanding member, it is not possible to do that at this time.

“Just as we did with The Dry, our plan is to be face-to-face with the cinema going public, through event screenings, Q&A’s, and press appearances at the time of release.”

Bana, 54, added that he stood “in support of the changes that SAG-AFTRA are fighting for on behalf of all working actors”.

“I apologise for any inconvenience it causes anyone who has pre purchased tickets to our already sold-out Q&A sessions,” he added.

“Thanks for your understanding. See you at a cinema soon.”

Forces of Nature: The Dry 2 is based on the best-selling novel by Jane Harper and sees Bana reprise his role as federal agent Aaron Falk, who is sent in to investigate after five women take part in a corporate hiking retreat and only four come out on the other side.

The film also stars Richard Roxburgh, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Deborra-Lee Furness and Anna Torv.

The strike’s impact on The Dry 2 comes just days after Aussie actor Luke Cook lifted the lid on his shockingly low pay as he explained why industry change was necessary.

The Sydney-born star – who currently lives in LA with his wife and two children – revealed in a brutally honest social media video that he has to work two additional jobs to supplement his income, despite starring in multiple shows.

Cook, 36, took to TikTok last week to explain what had brought them to this point, providing extremely personal details about his own financial experience after starring in shows and films including Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Dynasty and Guardians of the Galaxy.

“I am not a millionaire,” Cook said in the video.

“I drive a 2010 Mazda S3, and my previous car was a 2006 Ford Taurus. 95 per cent of the actors in SAG cannot make a living from acting, so they’ve got to have side hustles. I am one of those actors.

“The actors that you’re thinking of, who are the millionaires, are usually series regulars or big A-listers in big movies. The actors who are around them, though, are actors like myself: guest stars, co-stars etc., and we’re paid chips.”

Striking actors join picket lines

Actors took to picket lines outside studio headquarters from California to New York on Friday as movie and television production ground to a halt in the most serious Hollywood strike in decades.

Hundreds of strikers marched with placards at the Netflix building on Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Boulevard, as well as at Disney, Paramount, Warner and Amazon premises, with passing drivers honking their horns in support.

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In New York, Jason Sudeikis and Susan Sarandon were among A-listers who showed up for demonstrations, triggered by the refusal of studio bosses to meet actors’ demands for better pay and job security.

“The studios are tone-deaf and greedy, and they need to wake up — because we are the ones that made them rich,” actress Frances Fisher, who starred in Titanic, told AFP while marching outside Paramount Pictures.

SAG-AFTRA members joined writers who have been on strike for weeks, triggering the first industry-wide walkout for 63 years and effectively shutting down Hollywood.

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