Warner Bros. Pushes Dune: Part Two To 2024 Due To Strike

The war for Arrakis is getting delayed by a few months, as Warner Bros. has pushed Dune: Part Two to early 2024. Deadline reports that the studio has moved the conclusion of the Dune saga to March 15, 2024, four months after its planned November 3rd release date.

The move comes as the studios attempt to navigate the double strike that has made promoting studio-made films tricky, as the SAG-AFTRA strike means that the cast cannot promote any struck work. Dune: Part Two is taking the release date that Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire had, and that sequel is moving a month ahead to April 12th, 2024 which in turn bumps the animated Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim to December 13th, 2024.

While Dune is getting the bump, a few more high-profile films are staying in their scheduled dates for Warner Bros. That includes Wonka (releasing December 15th), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (out on December 20th) and likely Oscar contender The Color Purple (out on December 25th). Warner Bros. is attempting to strike a balance between keeping films on tap to help theaters — an industry still somewhat struggling after the COVID lockdowns — and making sure their films have a chance to make the most money.

The article makes note of the strife between Warner Bros. and producing studio Legendary over the first Dune’s day-and-date release on HBO Max, which Legendary wasn’t happy with as it curtailed their profits. The new release date for Dune: Part Two leaves it relatively free of competition, with nothing opening the same weekend and no direct fandom-heavy competition until Sony’s Ghostbuster: Afterlife sequel two weeks later.