With no immediate end to the SAG-AFTRA strike in sight and actors still unable to promote their big-budget studio movies, Legendary and Warner Bros. have been left with no choice but to move Dune: Part Two from Nov. 3 to March 15, 2024.
That sound you hear is that of dozens of awards strategists and consultants rejoicing across Hollywood, as Denis Villeneuve‘s star-studded Dune sequel was all but a shoo-in to receive double-digit Oscar nominations, thereby opening up those “reserved” slots to other fall movies.
Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer may be the clear beneficiary as far as possible below-the-line wins are concerned, though Fox’s epic-looking sci-fi movie The Creator could very well wind up the big winner here, as it’ll be interesting to see whether it lands any below-the-line nods that may have otherwise gone to Dune: Part Two — though it’ll be impossible to know for sure.
It’ll be interesting to see if Warner Bros. moves any of its three December releases — Wonka, The Color Purple, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — into Dune: Part Two‘s former release date. Wonka seems like it might benefit from a move to November, if only to alleviate the studio’s crowded December slate.
Meanwhile, with Dune: Part Two moving to March, Warners has pushed Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to April 12, with the animated movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim shifting to Dec. 13, 2024.
With Dune: Part Two now slated for mid-March next year, and Godzilla x Kong coming just a month later, it begs the question of what will become of Bong Joon-ho‘s next movie Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson. It’s currently slated to hit theaters just two weeks after the Dune sequel on March 29, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it moved to the fall, especially if it has any awards hopes whatsoever.
