Despite its bullish attitude to releasing big movies while cinemas are still facing huge challenges in terms of attendance in re-opening, Warner Bros. now appears to be re-thinking that strategy in the wake of Tenet's performance. According to the team at Collider, Denis Villenueve's Dune is now moving back to October 2021.
The film, which adapts Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel, has an all-star cast in the story of young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) confronting his destiny as a prophesied hero on a desert world even as his family is betrayed by their enemies.
Originally scheduled for 18 December, the movie will now land on 1 October, 2021, yet another blow to cinema chains who had hoped to see blockbusters return, but have seen the likes of No Time To Die delayed again to next year. That impacts The Batman, which had been targeting the October date but seems destined to flap to a later slot.
Dune, which is hoping to launch a second part following the first (plus a spin-off TV series), also has Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem among its sprawling ensemble.