Universal Pictures is getting ready to roll the cameras on some big pictures in the next few months, the L.A. Times reports.

There’s director Ridley Scott’s twist on the Robin Hood legend, “Nottingham,” starring Russell Crowe, set to begin production in August. And comedy zeitgeist filmmaker Judd Apatow is training his lens on stand-up comics in “Funny People,” starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Eric Bana, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill, expected to get underway in September.

But these movies and others could be derailed if actors and studios can’t negotiate a new contract by the end of the month, when the current Screen Actors Guild pact expires. Despite several weeks of negotiations, there’s growing pessimism throughout Hollywood that the sides will resolve their significant differences any time soon.

If they don’t reach an agreement, actors could opt to strike early next month or work without a contract. For their part, studios could enforce a lockout by blocking SAG members from working on movies and prime-time TV shows. Although the lockout option — full or partial — has been discussed by some studio executives, such a move is considered drastic.