Hotpress has confirmed Cillian Murphy has pulled out of tomorrow's Dublin screening of Oppenheimer, the widely anticipated film directed by Christopher Nolan.

Murphy was set to attend the Dublin premiere at the Irish Film Institute, but has since confirmed he will be staying home in solidarity with his SAG-AFTA colleagues. The premiere event is still set to go ahead, but with no red carpet being rolled out for the film's star.

The cast of Oppenheimer also walked out of their London premiere last night after the announcement that SAG-AFTRA would be going on strike.

Cilian Murphy, who plays the lead scientist Robert Oppenheimer, and Kenneth Branagh, who both hail from the island, walked out in solidarity with their American cast members, as did Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt, both English.

Though the strike primarily effects U.S actors as a U.S-based organisation, any international members must also adhere to the organisation's Global Rule One which states, "No member shall render any services or make an agreement to perform services for any employer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union...  in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place."

Murphy told PA, “I stand by my colleagues, that's all I can say to you." Florence Pugh added, “If they call it, we’ll be leaving together as a cast in unity with everyone.”

Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon, who star in the film also sit on the Actors' Council of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

As members of SAG-AFTRA, Global Rule One prohibits them from attending any promotional events in addition to working on any projects in progress.

Rami Malek, who plays physicist David Hill in the upcoming film, was one of over 300 SAG-AFTRA members to sign a June 27 letter to the union leadership which read in part, “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.”

In response to speculation about the walk-out before the strike was officially announced (8am Irish time), Branagh told PA Media, “Everybody is working very hard to make sure it doesn’t happen, if it happens I stand in solidarity with our SAG members."

Fans have largely responded positively to the action, despite it potentially costing them a chance to mingle with the stars of the film.

Matt Damon, on why they moved up the time of the pre-show red carpet, "Because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home,"

Followed by, pic.twitter.com/yGWsg3Sycn

— Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) July 13, 2023

SAG-AFTRA was originally a merger between two American trade unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

The organisation has since expanded to include international members, with the total number at around 160,000. The strike comes after four weeks of negotiation between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach an agreement after the previous contracts between the two groups expired.

Key issues in the negotiations include the decline of base compensation in real terms due to rising inflation, benefits packages, the looming threat of largely unregulated AI, and the encroachment of streaming services on previously exclusive contracts.

The strike marks the first major members strike in over 40 years, and the first time SAG-AFTRA and the Writer Guild of America (WGA) are on strike at the same time in over 60 years.

The WGA have been on strike since May 2 of this year, protesting compensation that has failed to keep up with a rising cost of living, increasingly high demands placed on ever-thinning writing staff on exclusive projects, and the adverse impact streaming services have had on compensation levels.