Dune Reportedly Delayed Until Late 2021

A new report suggests that Warner Bros. and Legendary are pushing back the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie. According to Collider, the studios are pushing the film’s release from December 2020 until October 1, 2021. If that date sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the current release date of The Batman. If Dune is moving back to that date, it would not be surprising to hear that The Batman is also getting a new release date. There’s no word yet on what Dune’s move means for Wonder Woman 1984, Warner Bros.’ other upcoming blockbuster, which is set for release on Christmas Day. Dune’s delay comes after the movie’s first trailer debuted in September.

Dune stars Timothy Chalamet as Paul Atreides. Paul is the son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and is destined to become the reluctant messiah Muad’Dib. “The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’ s-journey of sorts,” Chalamet said in an interview. “He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that.

In an interview in December, Oscar Isaac said the film would not be for the faint of heart. He noted that Villeneuve isn’t shying away from the uglier elements of the story. “I couldn’t imagine anyone more suited for the tone of the original Frank Herbert novels than Denis,” he said. “There are some things that are — for lack of a better word — nightmarish about what you see… There’s just this kind of brutalist element to it. It’s shocking. It’s scary. It’s very visceral.”

Warner Bros. describes Dune as “A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.”

Dune’s cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. Villeneuve directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert’s novel. The film is produced by Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo and Villeneuve. The executive producers are Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison, and Herbert W. Gains, with Kevin J. Anderson serving as creative consultant.