As you’ve probably noticed, there’s a lot going on in Hollywood right now. Both the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) are on strike simultaneously – for the first time in 60 years – pushing back and advocating for industry-wide changes regarding the business models of the streaming era, and the encroach of A.I. technology. And while the strikes aren’t specifically stopping films from being released, that might be one of the knock-on effects of the action, since actors and writers are avoiding publicising their work while strikes continue.
According to Variety, one film that may end up being pushed to next year is Dune: Part Two – Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated continuation of his Frank Herbert adaptation, currently slated for release on 3 November. The report states that Warner Bros is considering moving the film to 2024, according to a handful of sources. It would be dependent on Warner and co-producers Legendary Entertainment both agreeing to a new release date. One source has reportedly stated that Warners’ releases will be moving forward as planned, while acknowledging the possible impacts of the strike.
It’s thought that the significant star power of Villeneuve’s movie – with considerably more Zendaya than Part One, plus Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and more among the cast – could be a factor in delaying the release, if none of those major names are able to engage in promotional activities running up to release. The report also indicates that Warner’s Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom and The Color Purple musical movie, each due at the end of the year, might also be affected.
For film fans, those delays might sting if they come to fruition – and that is a big ‘if’, dependent on how long the strikes continue for, which remains an entirely unknown quantity. But given the reasons for the strike – which you can read more about here – and how important a time this is for many professionals within the film and TV industry, there are bigger things than sandworms at stake. Our next trip to Arrakis should be worth the wait, whenever that comes.