Dune 2 delayed to 2024
The spice will not flow until 2024.
Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi sequel Dune: Part Two has been yanked from Warner Brothers' 2023 schedule, and is now slated to debut on March 15, 2024. The film was originally set to release on Nov. 3.
Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, and Dave Bautista will reprise their roles from the original 2021 film, while Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Christopher Walken also join the cast.
Dune: Part Two's move has had a slight domino effect on two of the studio's other upcoming releases. WB and Legendary's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has moved from March 15, 2024, to April 12, 2024, and the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has moved from April 12, 2024, to Dec. 13, 2024.
Zendaya's other upcoming project, the tennis drama Challengers, was also delayed until April 26, 2024. The film is directed by Call Me by Your Name's Luca Guadagnino, and costars Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor. Challengers was originally set to release Sept. 15, and was also going to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30, but has been pulled from the festival's lineup.
Everett Collection Zendaya in 'Dune'
These release shifts come in the wake of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, during which members cannot promote any projects affiliated with Hollywood's major studios or streamers. Zendaya has over 180 million followers on Instagram, which makes her an essential piece in each film's marketing campaign.
Other major movies delayed by the strike include Kraven the Hunter, which moved from Oct. 6, 2023, to Aug. 30, 2024, and the forthcoming sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which moved from Dec. 20, 2023, to March 29, 2024. Other films that were set to begin or continue filming in 2023 will also presumably see delayed release dates, including Gladiator 2, Beetlejuice 2, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2, Deadpool 3, Quentin Tarantino's The Movie Critic, and Clint Eastwood's Juror #2.
For the strike to end, and promotions to resume, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) must agree to fair contract terms with SAG-AFTRA.
Chalamet last starred in 2022's Bones and All, and his upcoming musical Wonka is still slated to release on Dec. 15 of this year.
Zendaya has not appeared in a feature film since 2021, when she acted in four projects: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dune, Space Jam: A New Legacy, and Malcolm & Marie.
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