Warner Bros. Shifts Release Dates For Dune, Many Saints of Newark, And More

Warner Bros. has done a few small tweaks to their release schedule that have pushed back the long-awaited Dune and The Many Saints of Newark. The studio announced on Friday that Dune, which is directed by Denis Villeneuve, will release on October 22nd now. That puts the film three weeks later than its most recent release date of October 1st. Meanwhile, The Many Saints of Newark has moved into the October 1st slot that Dune had moved into. The Sopranos prequel had been set for a week earlier on September 24th.

Finally, Clint Eastwood’s new film has been moved up. Cry Macho will now open on September 17th, having left the October 22nd spot that Dune now occupies. All the films, much like the rest of Warner Bros.’ 2021 slate, are currently set to hit HBO Max on the same day they hit theaters. That could always change if the studio rethinks its plans.

Warner Bros. announced that it’s delaying the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune to October 22, 2021, after having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Dune is scheduled to be a part of this year’s TIFF offerings as well. One of the reasons that Legendary is changing the date for Dune is that it does not want the sci-fi spectacle directly competing with MGM’s long-delayed No Time to Die. Cary Joji Fukunaga’s new Bond film will assuredly own the box office when it comes out, so getting out of the way of its success strikes me as a solid plan.

Dune stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, David Dastmalchian, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, with Charlotte Rampling, with Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. It is described as follows:

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

The Many Saints of Newark is directed by Alan Taylor from a script by David Chase and Lawrence Konner. It stars Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Billy Magnussen, Michela De Rossi, John Magaro, with Ray Liotta, and Vera Farmiga and is described as:

The Many Saints of Newark is the much-anticipated feature film prequel to the groundbreaking, award-winning HBO drama series The Sopranos. The film is set in the explosive era of the Newark riots, when rival gangsters began to rise up, challenging the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the city.