Your flight back to Arrakis has just been a little delayed due to heavy sandstorms. Warner Bros. announced today that Dune: Part 2 is going to premiere in theaters a bit later than originally announced. The sci-fi epic was scheduled for an October 20 release next year. Now, the premiere has been pushed back almost a month and the sequel hits theaters on November 17, 2023 instead. The blockbuster is set to continue the journey of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) after escaping a coup and assassination attempt on his life.
Even though a later release date is not exactly happy news to fans, a single month is not infuriating, especially when you consider that the production of a massive sci-fi epic like this one is probably a nightmare to wrap up. The new date puts Dune: Part 2 against another highly anticipated blockbuster. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (which also features an expansive, all-star cast) comes to theaters on the very same day.
The news comes on the heels of the announcement that French star Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die) has joined the cast of the movie, and she is part of a slate of exciting newcomers which includes Florence Pugh (Black Widow), Christopher Walken (Catch Me if You Can), and Austin Butler (Elvis). Aside from them, original cast members Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgaard, and Josh Brolin are all set to return.
The competition doesn’t seem to intimidate Warner Bros., who previously raked in over $400 million dollars with the first installment of the Dune franchise – a whopping number, considering that the movie premiered during uncertain times in the coronavirus pandemic. Once again, acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) returns to direct, with a screenplay that he co-writes with Jon Spaiths (Prometheus).
Dune is based on the best-selling and classic sci-fi novel by author Frank Herbert. The story had already been adapted to cinema in a 1984 cult classic directed by David Lynch and starring Kyle MacLachlan. The new version, which premiered in 2021, was a massive hit that also took over the Academy Awards: It won in six categories out of ten nominations, including Best Visual Effects.
A prequel series titled Dune: The Sisterhood is already in development at HBO Max, and recently director Johan Renck (Chernobyl) was tapped to direct the first couple of episodes. The series will expand the Dune universe and is set 10,000 years before the events of the two movies. The sisterhood of the title refers to the Bene Gesserit, a group of women that possess incredible magical powers. There is currently no release date for the series.
Dune: Part Two premieres in theaters on November 17, 2023.