“Dune: Part 2” Postponed until 2024 Due to Strikes

To 2024, “Dune: Part Two” has been postponed.

Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of Paul Atreides’ story will resume on March 15.

After Variety revealed exclusively last month that Warner Bros. was considering 2024 as the release year for the sci-fi tentpole, Warner Bros. made the news on Thursday. “Dune: Part Two” was co-produced by Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. Film Group, and a new release date had to be agreed upon by both companies.

As a result of the shift, the originally scheduled release date of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” will now be on April 12. The movie is the most recent entry in the Monsterverse series and is also produced by Legendary and Warner Bros.

The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are still going strong, and now there is a “Dune” delay. The star-studded “Dune” cast would not have been on the press circuit for the high-profile movie due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which prohibits performers from doing publicity for any struck films.

Since IMAX has fall releases of “The Equalizer 3,” “Wonka,” and “The Marvels” (provided none of those titles move on the schedule, too), the date adjustment is not anticipated to have a significant effect on IMAX. The Easter vacation and the upcoming school year’s spring break, according to both WB and Legendary, will give both titles a boost.

The “Dune: Part Two” cast also features Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, and Javier Bardem in addition to Chalamet. Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, and others.

The studio plans to keep the December release dates for both “The Color Purple” (Dec. 25) and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” (Dec. 20), which Variety reported last month that Warner Bros. was also considering delaying till 2024.

The only other major studio to postpone several of its films was Sony, which last month also pulled “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” from theatres and delayed “Kraven the Hunter” and a “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” sequel to 2024. It’s not just “Dune: Part Two” that has been postponed; MGM’s “Challengers,” a tennis drama starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, has also been pushed to next year.