DUNE: PART TWO Release Date Moves to March 1, 2024
By Movieguide® Contributor
The release of the long-anticipated DUNE: PART TWO is now set for March 1, 2024.
“DUNE: PART TWO is the second chapter in Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science-fiction novel,” Variety reported. “The first film opened simultaneously in theaters and on Max (then known as HBO Max) in November 2021 and grossed $402 million at the worldwide box office. It also earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, and won the Oscars for original score, sound, film editing, cinematography, production design and visual effects.”
Warner Bros. originally set the date for Nov. 3, 2023, and then moved it to March 15, 2024, due to the SAG strike. Now, PART TWO will come two weeks earlier.
Movieguide® previously reported:
The delayed release date comes from the studio’s desire to capitalize on the big-name actors starring in the movie. As long as the SAG strike continues, actors cannot promote their movies or attend the premiere.
“Not having stars to do publicity for your movies is a huge detriment to the overall campaign,” a top studio executive told The Hollywood Reporter. “You lose the cultural impact of having talent talk about the film.”
Deadline noted, “The earlier date for DUNE: PART TWO also provides added playtime in Imax and PLFs (premium large format screens). The sequel was shot with IMAX cameras and additionally the studio has added an exclusive IMAX 70mm component in select theaters.”
The Hollywood Reporter added, “The move comes after Universal moved Ryan Gosling’s THE FALL GUY from March 1 to May 3, creating a gap that theater owners were eager for DUNE to fill. Warners and Legendary are hopeful that the project will be able to attract some of the spring break crowd with the new date.”
DUNE director Denis Villeneuve told Empire that if it’s feasible, he’s on board to make a third and final DUNE movie following the release of PART TWO.
He said, “If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream.”
DUNE: PART ONE was nominated for Movieguide®’s Faith and Freedom Award® for Movies. Part of the review reads:
DUNE is a powerful, exciting, satisfying epic. It’s worth seeing on a big screen. Even better, the movie has strong Christological themes, excellent dialogue and conservative statements about freedom and individualism. It affirms a father’s love and the importance of motherhood. DUNE has very little foul language, and no explicit crude content. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and young teenagers because of intense action violence and references to the hallucinogenic properties of the natural resource called spice.
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