Dune: Part 2 gets delayed into 2024

Before today, Dune: Part Two was scheduled to come out on November 3 of this year. What’s more, it was going to play in IMAX theaters, meaning we could see the continuing adventures of Paul Atreides on a screen a million feet high. A few weeks ago, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond reassured investors that, at least in his opinion, Dune: Part Two was unlikely to get delayed, despite whatever rumors they’d heard.

Well, that didn’t last. According to Deadline, the second Dune movie is getting pushed back to March 15, 2024. It will still be in IMAX, and thank goodness, because I want that desert to fill my entire field of vision.

Why is the movie getting delayed? Most likely it’s because of the ongoing actors strike. Dune: Part Two could be a big hit for the studio, in part because it is stacked back to front with white-hot talent. The cast is incredible: Timothée Chalamet as desert messiah Paul Atreides, Zendaya as his love interest Chani, Silo star Rebecca Ferguson as his mother Lady Jessica, Florence Pugh as space princess Irulan, Christopher Walken as her father the emperor, Javier Bardem as Fremen leader Stilgar, Stellan Skarsgård as the vile Baron Harkonnen, Dave Bautista and Austin Butler as his equally vile nephews, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck…I mean, it’s nuts.

Warner Bros. Discovery wants these stars front and center promoting the movie, particularly the young ones like Chalamet, Zendaya, Pugh and Butler, since they have huge social media presences. But thanks to the strike, none of them are allowed to do that, hence the delay.

The stars can’t promote Dune: Part 2 because of the strike, so it’s getting delayed

Dune: Part 2 will take the spot previously taken by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which will be moved to April 12, 2024. And that will take the spot previously held by Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, which will move to December 13, 2024. That’s a lot of changes, but Warner Bros. isn’t moving any of the movies it currently has scheduled for this December: Wonka (December 15), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 20) and The Color Purple (December 25) will all come out this year.

As for Dune’s IMAX slot, it will very likely be taken over by Disney’s The Marvels. As Gelfond mused a few weeks back, it’s not the worst fallback position to have.

News like this gives more leverage to the striking actors. Hopefully encourages the studios to give them a fair deal sooner rather than later.

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