New Dune movie reportedly delayed until late 2021

Spice fans looking forward to the release of the new Dune movie have been dealt some bad news, as the release date for Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptation has been pushed back deep into next year.

Dune is considered one of the quintessential Science Fiction series by many, telling the tale of Paul Atreides and the struggle over the spice-rich desert world of Arrakis.

Fans of the books were hyped, to say the least, with new trailers coming out before the big-budget movie was set to premiere on December 18, 2020.

Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, and more, it certainly seemed like it would be one of the biggest movies during the holidays – but ongoing global events seem to have convinced Warner Brothers to delay it until Oct. 1, 2021.

According to Collider, a source from Warner Bros. told them that even though the studio was hoping people would be getting back to the theater around the holiday season, due to the way things have played out and other factors, they’ve decided to delay until October 2021.

For instance, Warner Bros. just moved Wonder Woman 1984 to come out on Christmas Day, which would have meant less than a week between major film premiers, definitely making things more of a mess.

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This unfortunate delay might not even be the last one we see for Dune, if the trend continues. Oct. 1 is also slated to be the day that The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves comes out, which is also being distributed by Warner Bros.

Warner Brothers

Based on how the studio seems to feel about Dune vs. superhero films, we could be in for yet another delay due to The Batman next year.

That being said, according to Collider, Villeneuve reportedly has been supportive of the decision, since he’s said he made Dune to be seen on the big screen.

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2020 certainly hasn’t seen very many people venturing out to take in movies at their local theatre – at least in the U.S. – and this decision by Warner Bros. just seems to show that studios are more than well aware of this.

Dune was was one of the most-hyped movies going into the holiday season, but it seems like we’ll just have to wait another year to head back to Arrakis.