Fresh on the heels of negotiations with the Director's Guild, the Writer's Guild and the strike involved therein, it's no surprise that the AMPTP negotiators are probably exhausted and grumpy. But on Wednesday the AMPTP sent out a six-page epistle to its member companies, reportedly, according to THR, "'setting the record straight' on the state of the negotiations and indicating little progress has been made since negotiations started April 15." While this certainly doesn't mean that another Hollywood strike is imminent, I think it's safe to say there is a collective nationwide groan of "not again!"

The current contract between the actors and the producers expires June 30th, and if an agreement hasn't been reached by then, another strike would occur. If that were to happen, the timing would dictate, as highlighted by THR.com's Risky Biz Blog that films would take more of a hit than TV -- the opposite of which was the case with the Writers' strike. As most scripted television would have already headed into its summer hiatus and wouldn't be filming anyway, movies set to go into production for the 2009/2010 slate would be immediately halted.

Not only would the New Films With Dead Actors prediction probably then come true, but the only films coming out for who knows how long would be from non-signatory (meaning, companies that don't work with Guild actors, like B-Movie and porn producers) production companies. The world isn't ready for the for the red carpet premiere of Another Attack of the 50 Foot Woman or The Cheerleader Massacre 2, so let's all hope the AMPTP negotiators get a nap and a cookie this weekend.