Legendary and Warner Bros. announce that the Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya Coleman-starring film is moving its November 3 theatrical release to March 15, 2024.
- Aug 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - "Dune: Part Two" is among films affected by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. On Thursday, August 24, Legendary and Warner Bros. announced that the Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya Coleman-starring film is moving its November 3 theatrical release to March 15, 2024.
Based on the Frank Herbert novel, the big-budget sequel to "Dune" will also play IMAX on its new date. It's additionally expected that the sci-fi movie will fire off either at the Berlin Film Festival or SXSW in late winter/early spring. The movie is currently unopposed in its new date.
In domino effect, Legendary and Warners delayed "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" to April 12, 2024. The movie was previously slated to open on the "Dune" sequel's new March 15 date. Ultimately, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's "Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim", whose initial release date was April 12, 2024, was moved to December 13, 2024.
Prior to this, Variety reported that Warner Bros. considered delaying "The Color Purple" (December 25) and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" (December 20). However, both titled and "Wonka" (December 15), which stars Timothee as the titular character in the Road Dahl novel's movie adaption, will stick to their dates despite the lingering strike.
The delays come as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue to drag on. The SAG-AFTRA strike makes it impossible for actors to do press for any struck films.
Warner Bros. wasn't the only studio making shifts for its movies' release dates. Last month, Sony pushed back "Kraven the Hunter" and a "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" sequel to 2024. It also removed "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" from the release calendar.
Meanwhile, Zendaya's other movie "Challengers" also got delayed to next year. In the tennis drama, Zendaya stars alongside Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor.
