By Jonas Reichel on July 27, 2023 at 09:35 am

A shock for all Dune fans: Due to the currently ongoing actors' strike in Hollywood, the release of Dune 2 might be delayed considerably. The prospects for a return to Arrakis in the near future are getting worse and worse.

At present, both writers and actors in the United States are on strike for better working conditions. This not only brings planned and ongoing productions to a standstill, however: Even movies that are already finished can no longer be publicly promoted by the stars - which is a disaster for the distributors, who naturally want to attract as much attention as possible to their theatrical releases. That's why some of them are now pulling the ripcord and postponing their finished films, among them "Challengers" starring Zendaya, which is now scheduled for release at the end of April 2024 instead of this September.

Now one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year could also fall victim to the postponement plans - namely "Dune: Part Two" by Denis Villeneuve. The science fiction epic Dune, starring Timothee Chalamet, wowed many viewers and critics in 2021 and also swept the board at the Academy Awards. The sequel was already considered the undisputed highlight of the 2023 movie year, yet according to Deadline, the excitement is now being dampened: Distributor Warner Bros. is seriously contemplating pushing Dune 2 back to next year, with March to June 2024 being the first period of discussion.

There is still some hope that this fate will be averted: Should actors and producers be able to agree on an end to the strike by the Labor Day weekend of September 3 to 5, the current theatrical release date of "Dune 2" on November 3, 2023 would remain unchanged.