Robert De Niro's New Netflix Series Suspends Production

Robert De Niro's new limited series Zero Day is the latest project to halt production during the Writers Guild of America's strike. Zero Day was being filmed in New York, and filming continued until Wednesday, reports Deadline. The series was created by Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael S. Schmidt.

Zero Day production will be shut down for the rest of the work stoppage. The actors' union SAG-AFTRA is also negotiating a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade group representing the studios. SAG-AFTRA members preemptively approved a strike authorization if no deal is reached by the end of June, meaning actors could be joining writers on the picket line. Sources told Deadline that both situations remain fluid, but Zero Day producers hope to resume production in September.

De Niro is an executive producer on Zero Day and will star alongside Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemmons and Edi Gathegi. Lesli Linka Glatter, who serves as the Directors Guild of America's president and reached a tentative deal with studios, is directing all six episodes. The project is part of Netflix's deal with Newman's Grand Electric Productions.

De Niro stars as Mullen, a complicated figure who comes out of retirement to lead a commission investigating a global cyber-attack. Zero Day is set in the modern world, where everyone struggles to find the truth at the center of crises. The show marks De Niro's first-ever significant television series role, and his first big television project since he played Bernie Madoff in HBO's movie The Wizard of Lies. De Niro was also an executive producer on Ava DuVernay's Netflix series When They See Us.

While De Niro might not be working during the writers' strike, he is still busy in New York City. This weekend, he is presiding over the Tribeca Film Festival, which he founded in 2002. The festival will also organize "De Niro Con" in the fall to celebrate De Niro's 80th birthday. The event will take place over the weekend of Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, with screenings of his best-known movies planned, alongside installations, musical performances, panels, and recreations of film sets.

"It's hard to know what to get Bob for his 80th birthday," Tribeca Festival co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "He's already got a gold watch, so we decided to celebrate him and his enduring legacy with a fun-filled fan event as well as pay tribute to his unwavering dedication to his films, art, and the city he loves."