The Warner Bros movie studio will delay the planned November release of a big-budget Dune sequel until March, a studio spokesperson said on Thursday, because its stars cannot promote the movie during the Hollywood actors’ strike. The decision deals a blow to cinema chains such as AMC Entertainment, Cineplex and Cinemark which are still trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Dune was one of the most anticipated films on the late 2023 schedule. Dune: Part Two will now debut on March 15, a date that had been reserved for Warner Bros film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The monster movie was shifted to April 12. As a result, an animated Lord of the Rings film that had been set for April was moved to December.
Dune: Part Two stars Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet in a sci-fi sequel based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel about an intergalactic battle to control a precious resource.