It's an outcome nobody wanted, but with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes showing no signs of coming to an end, Warner Bros. has decided to delay the release of Dune: Part 2 by over four months.
The second part of Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic was scheduled for release on November 2, 2023, and will now arrive in theaters on March 15, 2024.
The studio has also moved Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire back by one month to April 12, 2024, and the animated Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim movie from April 12, 2024 to December 13, 2024.
According to THR, WB simply "couldn’t wait anymore before pulling the plug," since marketing for the Dune sequel would have needed to begin in earnest by early September.
Disappointing news, for sure, but not entirely unexpected.
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning Dune.
The big-screen epic continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Wonka, Call Me by Your Name), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Malcolm & Marie, Euphoria), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Milk), Oscar nominee Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood), Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Love and Thunder), Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter,), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), Léa Seydoux (James Bond, Crimes of the Future), with Stellan Skarsgård (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years, Assassin’s Creed), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos).
Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.