Two films in preproduction have been halted due to the on-going writers' strike. According to Variety, Warner Brothers has halted their upcoming adaptation of Gregory David Roberts novel Shantaram which was set to star Johnny Depp. And the Weinstein Company has postponed shooting on Rob Marshall's musical Nine.

The delays are due to the fact that the scripts weren't yet finalized. Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels and Demons, and Oliver Stone's Pinkville were also postponed for the same reason.

As far as Shantaram is concerned, there were script problems that couldn't be worked out before the strike occurred. It is unclear at this time if Depp will sign onto another project in the interim. Nine, on the other hand, has moved its start date to the second half of 2008.

Because of the intricate interaction between the script and the choreography, Marshall decided to wait until the strike was over to continue work on his project.

Nine was released December 18th, 2009 and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, Stacy Ferguson. The film is directed by Rob Marshall.