'Dune: Part Two' pushed back to March 15 amid Hollywood labor actions

Warner Bros.

Dune: Part Two has been postponed to March 15, 2024, because of the ongoing writer and actor strikes. The film, which was slated for November 3, needs the publicity from its star-studded cast to reach its full box office potential. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment decided to delay it for over four months after holding out as long as they could.

The studio and production company hoped the extra time would enable the cast, featuring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and Christopher Walken, to join a full marketing campaign. They would have had to start advertising the film by early September.

The release dates of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim were also pushed back to April 12, 2024 and December 13, 2024, respectively, mainly to make room for Dune: Part Two.

The labor actions by writers and actors in Hollywood stem from long-standing disputes over various issues, especially residual payments from streaming platforms like Netflix. Warner Bros. Discovery faced backlash for releasing some films directly or partially on its HBO Max (now MAX) streaming service with zero or limited theatrical releases. However, CEO David Zaslav vowed last year that the company would "fully embrace theatrical" in the future.

Dune: Part One did well at the box office with a USD 402 million gross, but the sequel is expected to perform better. Director Denis Villeneuve said, “Part One is more of a contemplative movie. Part Two is an action-packed, epic war movie. It is much more dense. We went to all new locations." 

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