Warner Bros. has tweaked its fall release schedule and the eagerly-awaited "Dune" has been pushed back again, although thankfully only three weeks, from Oct. 1 2021 to Oct. 22 2021, according to Variety.
Produced by Legendary Pictures, the movie will adapt the first half of the first of Frank Herbert's "Dune" novels. It's directed by Denis Villeneuve, who has already proved himself with the mind-blowing sequel "Blade Runner 2049" — which is nothing short of epic — together with "Arrival" and "Sicarrio," which are both also phenomenal motion pictures.
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"Dune" is the perfect franchise for Villeneuve to breathe new life into, and frankly, the cast is beyond our wildest expectations, including, Timothée Chalamet (as Paul Atreides), Charlotte Rampling (Reverend Mother Gaius Mohiam), Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho), Dave Bautista (Glossu 'Beast' Rabban), Oscar Isaac (Duke Leto Atreides), Javier Bardem (Stilgar), Zendaya (Chani), Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica) and Stellan Skarsgård (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen).
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This is the fourth time the release date has been changed. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with just about every movie and TV show in the last 18 months or so. The original date was November of last year and the choice to make it simultaneously available on the HBO Max streaming service has not been without controversy.
Villeneuve himself has been quite vocal about wanting "Dune" to remain a theatrical release only, but it doesn't look like that will happen. How this will affect the box office numbers and the subsequent production of what would effectively be part II remains to be seen.
The new release date is only two weeks after New York Comic Con — and the schedule for that hasn't been announced yet, so it's not outside the realm of reason to hope for a panel and perhaps even some new footage. It's been eight months since we last saw a trailer, so fingers crossed we might get at least one more before the October release date.
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