Jonathan Majors, co-star fall through window on Daily Wire film set as crew strikes over safety

Jonathan Majors and a co-star tumbled through a window while filming a Daily Wire action movie in South Carolina last week, an accident that has intensified a labor dispute that sent more than half the crew to the picket line — while the film’s producers dismissed union concerns with pointed remarks about communists.

Mr. Majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne fell roughly 6 feet to the ground after crashing through a loose pane of tempered glass during a scene on the Gaffney, S.C., set of the untitled Daily Wire-Bonfire Legend production, according to Deadline, which obtained video of the incident. The glass had been installed loosely in the window frame for a later stunt that was not supposed to involve any actors. Mr. Kilcoyne required stitches across both hands; Majors was not reported injured. A representative for Mr. Kilcoyne said he “is doing well and was taken care of immediately by production” and that the actor “did not feel unsafe on set.” Reps for Mr. Majors did not return a request for comment.

The accident occurred before IATSE formally called a strike against the production on March 26, but crew members told Deadline it helped galvanize the walkout. By the time the strike was called, more than 60% of the crew had signed union authorization cards. Workers initially sought a contract guaranteeing contributions to IATSE’s health and pension funds; those demands escalated as safety complaints mounted over five weeks of filming.

Among the concerns raised by crew: props falling on workers, including a rigged tree branch that struck the set medic; no pre-stunt safety meetings with department heads or director Kyle Rankin; a location change that was forced after crew discovered black mold in a space producers had wanted to use despite a contractor’s warning that the building may have contained asbestos; and the presence of special effects supervisor Chris Bailey, who pleaded guilty in a prior case to illegal possession of explosives on a movie set and was prohibited from handling explosive materials due to a prior criminal conviction, according to a 2021 Department of Justice press release. Mr. Bailey told Deadline the earlier case was “a paperwork infraction” and said, “No pyro was mishandled.”

One longtime crew member told Deadline they observed “no normal production activities” — no unit production manager, no crew list — and that workers eventually circulated an informal list among themselves just to identify their colleagues.

Bonfire Legend producer Dallas Sonnier has shown little interest in negotiating. In an initial statement to Deadline, he said the producers were “too busy being bad asses, blowing sh*t up, flying helicopters, and killing movie terrorists” to address what he called an “illegitimate ’strike.’” After Deadline published details of the window accident, Mr. Sonnier offered a two-sentence response: “The entire industry is in freefall due to strikes, and now that their members are out of work, they’re trying to sabotage the few people who are still producing. We don’t negotiate with communists.”

He offered a similarly dismissive line to The Wrap, saying the actors’ fall “was shorter than the failed movie careers of the now-union reps.”

Deadline confirmed the production is operating under a SAG-AFTRA contract. IATSE’s push for a below-the-line deal follows a common pattern in which crew unions seek parity after an above-the-line agreement is in place.

The film, believed to be titled “Run Hide Fight Infidels,” is written and directed by Mr. Rankin, whose 2020 action thriller “Run Hide Fight” was also a Daily Wire-Bonfire Legend collaboration. The new project is described as an anthology sequel drawn from the same vein as 1980s and ’90s action films such as “Red Dawn” and “Toy Soldiers.” Additional producers include Ben Shapiro for The Daily Wire, Travis Mills, Lillian Campbell and Sydney Aucreman.

The movie marks Mr. Majors’ first production since he was convicted in 2023 of assault and harassment against his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, leading to his removal from multiple high-profile projects.