Warner Bros. Pictures has delayed a number of its upcoming films, including the highly anticipated Dune: Part Two.
According to Deadline, Warner Bros. has delayed Dune: Part Two from November 3, 2023 to March 15, 2024. Additionally, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has moved from March 15, 2024 to April 12, 2024. Finally, the animated feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has been delayed a whopping eight months from April 12, 2024 to December 13, 2024.
That being said, with the exception of Dune: Part Two, all of Warner Bros. Pictures’ late-2023 tentpoles are staying put. Wonka — starring Dune lead Timothée Chalamet — is still due to hit theaters later this year on December 15. Similarly, DC’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is still coming out on December 20, while The Color Purple is still set for December 25. Aquaman 2 keeping its December release date is somewhat surprising, at it was previously reported that the superhero sequel could be moved again in the likely event of Dune: Part Two’s delay.
Warner Bros.’ Dune and Aquaman sequels have had long journeys
Director Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune released in theaters and on HBO Max in October 2021, adapting the first half of the 1965 sci-fi novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. Shortly after the film’s release, Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment green-lit a sequel, which would adapt the second half of the book. Dune: Part Two was originally dated for October 20, 2023. It was subsequently delayed to November 17 before being bumped up to November 3.
Villeneuve has also discussed the possibility of making a third film, which would be based on Frank Herbert’s 1969 sequel novel Dune Messiah. At any rate, a spin-off/prequel series titled Dune: The Sisterhood is also in the works for the streaming platform now known simply as Max. Set 10,000 years before the events of Dune, The Sisterhood is based on the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
Meanwhile, James Wan‘s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom serves as a sequel to the 2018 DC Extended Universe film Aquaman. Lost Kingdom was originally dated for December 16, 2022 before being delayed to March 17, 2023. It was then delayed again to December 25, 2023 before being bumped up to December 20. The film serves as the symbolic end of the DCEU, which will soon be formally rebooted as the DC Universe.
Wonka opens in theaters on December 15, followed by Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on December 20 and The Color Purple on December 25. Dune: Part Two hits the big screen on March 15, 2024, followed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on April 12, 2024 and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim on December 13, 2024.
