The movie exodus from 2023 has claimed another victim. The Dune: Part Two release date has been changed from Nov. 3rd and will now move to March 25, 2024, Warner Bros. confirmed.
The second half of filmmaker Denis Villeneuve‘s sci-fi saga fell victim to the ongoing Hollywood writer and actor strikes, which have been expected to cause a massive movement of films to avoid being caught up in the publicity blackouts that have prevented talent from promoting their new projects. In some cases, the strikes also prevent completion of a film, since post-production can involve voice recording to fix scenes where new dialogue might be needed.
While it’s unclear when the strikes will come to an end, there seems to be little resolution in sight between the two guilds and the networks and studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The most pessimistic projections forecast the strikes dragging on until the end of the year, but few expect it to go on beyond that.
A number of high-profile films have already fled from 2023 and moved into next year to avoid having their marketing campaigns derailed by the guild-imposed ban on members promoting new projects released by struck companies.
Dune: Part Two is the second high profile film from Zendaya to fall victim to the strikes. One of the first movies to move away from 2023 was Challengers, the Zendaya love-triangle drama which canceled a late-August appearance at the Venice Film Festival and changed its release from September 15 to April 26, 2024.