WB Delays Release of Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Two’ until March 2024
by Alex Billington
August 24, 2023
Source: Variety
“May thy knife chip and shatter.” Oh no – it’s official from Warner Bros. They’re delaying Dune: Part Two until 2024 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in Hollywood. I hoped this wouldn’t happen. Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated epic sci-fi sequel was originally set to open in theaters worldwide on November 1st, 2023 later this fall. There were already two exceptional trailers released so far, promising what looked to be an exhilarating finale to this space saga with Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides on Arrakis. Unfortunately, with such a huge ensemble cast and no ability to get them involved in promoting the movie during the strike, they are going to try and wait it out. The new Dune 2 release date is now set for March 15th, 2024, and WB has also pushed the Godzilla x Kong sequel back a few weeks. A real shame, sad to see this decision take precedent. As many have pointed out, this is Hollywood making all the wrong choices now – via Twitter: “Hollywood would rather risk hundreds of millions of dollars, cripple big releases with weaker release dates, and reconfigure their entire schedules than pay their workers a fair wage.” Yep…
Explore the continuing journey of Paul Atreides, now united with the Fremen on Arrakis. A boy becomes the Messiah of nomads on a desert planet that has giant worms that protect a commodity called Spice. Spice changes people into travelers, mystics and madmen. What price will he pay to become the new ruler of their universe? Dune: Part Two, or Dune 2, is once again directed by acclaimed Quebecois filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who directed the first excellent Dune movie from 2021. Adapted from Frank Herbert’s iconic novel of the same name published in 1965. There are very high hopes for this Part Two continuation of the Paul & Chani story, with lots of early buzz that it might be even better than the first movie. Many were also hoping it would end up with Academy Awards in 2024, at least more nominations, since Villeneuve missed out winning anything with Dune. With this delay, who knows what’s next from Hollywood. Whatever the case, we all have to wait until March 2024 (full 2024 schedule here) to finally get a chance to witness Paul riding sandworms to victory over the Space Emperor on the big screen. Watch the second trailer here.