Striking screenwriters with the Writers Guild of America announced Tuesday that the union will be restarting contract negotiations this week.

In a Tuesday night statement, the union said that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents many major studios, asked to begin talks Friday, and the union agreed.

While it remains unclear if any breakthroughs will occur at this week’s meeting, the union certainly seems skeptical.

“As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors,” the WGA negotiating committee said in a statement. “Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.”

The announcement ends months of stalemate at the negotiating table. This week will be the first time that the writers have agreed to meet with the studios since the strike began in early May. The negotiations also come as the studios face mounting pressure from the striking writers and actors to meet their demands.

The strikes have all but shut down the Hollywood entertainment machine this summer, with many shows having their productions halted.

Using data from the 2007 writers strike, experts predicted in May that if the strike lasted three months, then it would cost the industry $3 billion.

The upcoming talks could easily fall apart as the studios and writers remain far apart on major issues, including the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry and its longstanding production models. The studios see AI technology as a way to save money on hiring actors as extras and on screenplays, whereas the writers see the growing sophistication of AI programs as a threat to their jobs.

The writers are also demanding increased workplace protections and changes to how residual payments work.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.