Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

With the passing of Bill Paxton coming on the heels of the deaths of several other lauded talents—including Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and Mary Tyler Moore—fans continue to mourn the losses of their beloved artists, as well as the lost opportunities to see them in their upcoming roles.  And those losses reverberate across entertainment industries.  Disney must now grapple with pushing forward with its Star Wars film saga and related advertising campaigns without its leading princess.  It is a challenge that The Hunger Games filmmakers likewise faced with the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman, which involved cast mourning periods and script rewrites.  Similarly, Fast & Furious 7 filmmakers reportedly spent an extra $50 million to complete the film following the death of Paul Walker.  The risk of an unfortunate passing looms over projects in other contexts, as well.  In television, John Ritter, John Spencer, and Cory Monteith passed away in the midst of successful runs of 8 Simple Rules, The West Wing, and Glee, respectively.  And entertainers David Bowie, Whitney Houston, and Prince, all likely had pending performance contracts at the times of their deaths.  This creates the risk of broken deals, unrealized projects, and even downstream litigation.