Dune Now Getting Earlier Release Date on HBO Max

The wait to see Dune just got a little bit shorter, at least if you’re planning to watch it on HBO Max. Denis Villenueve’s highly anticipated adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic is arriving in theaters on October 22nd, and it will be available on HBO Max on the same day (thanks to the Warner Bros. 2021 release strategy). Like most movies, however, Dune will have preview screenings in theaters on Thursday, October 21st. HBO Max will be moving up Dune‘s streaming release date to match the first theatrical showings, allowing everyone to watch the film at the same time.

Most new releases on HBO Max and other streaming services aren’t made available until midnight on the West Coast on the day of their release. That won’t be the case with Dune. The new film will be added to HBO Max at 6 pm ET/3 pm PT on Thursday, mirroring the times of the early showings on the East Coast. So Dune will be accessible to everyone in the US at some point on Thursday afternoon or evening.

HBO Max is doing what it can to make Dune available on the service for as long as possible. Per the deal Warner Bros. made for its 2021 films, Dune will be available on HBO Max for just 30 days. A movie may stick around in theaters for longer than that, but it will have to leave the streaming service, at least for a while. This is the same situation faced by Mortal Kombat, The Suicide Squad, and all of the other Warner Bros. films released this year.

Warner Bros. is also hoping to see Dune become a hit on HBO Max and in theaters, so maximizing the time it’s available is an easy decision. Dune is only adapting half of the original novel, as Villenueve has envisioned it as a two-movie experience. The filmmaker is currently working on the script for the sequel as Dune prepares to debut.

“I’m writing [Part Two] now, and I feel like I’m eight years old again,” Villeneuve told Total Film earlier this year. “That’s very uncommon for me. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it where I’m watching one of my movies, and I have a moment of deep gratitude, of deep joy, and I say, ‘Thank you, life, for having allowed me to bring that to the screen.’ [laughs] I don’t know how other people will feel about it. But me? Denis Villeneuve when he was 14 years old? Thank you.”

Will you be checking out Dune in theaters or on HBO Max this weekend? Let us know in the comments!