Sunset on the Beach Update

We posted in late October that the Sunset on the Beach event, which is the world premiere of the season opening episode of Lost on an outdoor screen at Waikiki Beach, was confirmed for February 2, 2008. About a week after this post, the WGA (writer's guild) strike commenced, and as of today is still ongoing, making the cancellation of the filming of Season 4 very likely.



ABC has indicated it will air the eight episodes of Season 4 that have already been filmed. However if filming ends, this means the film crew and cast will be laid off, and are free to depart Hawaii. The question was: will there still be a Sunset on the Beach event as scheduled?



The short answer is yes.



Our original source for the February 2 date was Jon Lachonis (aka DocArzt formerly of the blog at thetailsection.com), and his source was said to be very reliable and maybe even close to "The Powers that Be" at Lost. This week we received word that he has been authorized to state that the event is indeed still on despite the strike. You can read his exacts words at his new blog at UGO TV.



His latest blog entry mentions February 6 as a possible S4 broadcast premiere and an explanation for the number "6" that has mysteriously been featured on Lost promos in recent days. This date also supports February 2 as the likely Saturday for Sunset on the Beach.



Many people attend the premiere to see the cast, who have attended past premieres at Waikiki. However the WGA strike means the cast will likely have to fly back to Hawaii if they intend on attending. Will they be there? Lachonis wrote in his blog: "It is hard to say what this years event will look like with the increasing likelihood that Lost’s production will close down for the season, which would give the cast the option of traveling abroad." Reading between the lines, an educated guess would be that the cast are being encouraged to attend, and would probably be happy to come (who doesn't love Hawai'i), but would not be required to, especially if obligated by other work or travel during that time.