Dune: Part Two will be released in 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery announced today that the sci-fi epic is shifting into the next calendar year, and pushing back another film as a result, Variety reports.
Dune: Part Two will now hit theaters on March 15, 2024, just over four months later than its previous date of November 3, 2023. As part of the shift, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is being delayed from March 14 to April 12. Both films were co-produced by Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros., so Variety notes that the two parties had to agree on a new release date for this to happen.
The delay of Dune: Part Two was only confirmed by Warner Bros. today, but has been expected for some time. The strikes of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) continue, meaning that actors and writers are not allowed to promote upcoming films or work on new material. For both of those reasons, it seems likely that more movies will be delayed into next year. Studios will be looking to stretch out the completed content they have to keep money moving during the strike, while also hoping that the strike will end before these new release dates so that the films’ stars can promote the material.
Variety notes that Warner Bros. is reportedly also considering delaying Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as well as The Color Purple, which are set to release on December 20 and 25.
Dune: Part Two continues the story that started in Dune: Part One and stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, and more.