Zendaya’s upcoming movie, Dune 2, meets the fate quite similar to many upcoming projects. The movie was set to come out in November, this year. However recent updates say that the release date has been shifted to March 2024. This is due to the dual strike ongoing in Hollywood that has affected a number of productions by major studios.
All productions and promotions in Hollywood have been halted due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The writers and actors have been protesting against major production studios, demanding fair pay and job security as AI threatens to take over their jobs. Though it is considered a historic moment where both writers and actors have united to speak against unfair treatment, fans are convinced that studios would rather lose millions than meet the demands of their crew.
Dune 2 release date shifted to 2024
Dune 2 was rumored to be among the movies that could be delayed by the dual strike, but it has now been confirmed by Warner Bros. The fans will have to wait a little more to see what the sequel to the story of Paul Atreides has in store. The sequel was much hyped as fans had huge expectations especially with the previous movie winning six Academy Awards.
The first movie, the Denis Villeneuve-directed cinematic masterpiece came out in 2021, a time when the theatres were still not witnessing huge ticket sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the production could not really earn as much profit as it was capable of. Now, the sequel which has a star-studded cast like Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet, and Florence Pugh, feared facing a similar consequence as the actors will not be able to promote the movie due to the ongoing strikes. So, the delay was announced by the production house.
The update hints how Hollywood is really in trouble as multiple major projects keep getting delayed and without the actors promoting their movies they are failing at the box office, for example, Blue Beetle. While major production companies refuse to agree with the fair pay demands of writers and actors, many productions including multi-billion dollar franchises like Avatar were forced to move their release dates. Now with Dune 2, fans and cinephiles are wildly upset with the production houses. As they would rather lose millions than agree to pay artists who work for them, fairly.
Fans react to the shift in release date
As already mentioned the sequel was much-awaited, so the fans of the movie are surely not taking the news well. There have been enough delays in Hollywood in the past few months, and many major movies that Cinephiles would’ve loved to watch this year have been shifted to the next. So, it is inevitable that the fans did not react well to Dune 2 being released in March of 2024.
They are enraged at the shift of the release date of Dune 2 as they will be forced to wait longer for a sequel they’ve already waited for almost two years.
The delay, as fans state, might actually dampen the hype around the sequel. It is really sad that the production houses would rather suffer a huge loss by not releasing movies than paying their employees a fair amount. If the strikes don’t end soon, it can be feared that the productions can see further delays as without the writers and actors working, there won’t be any movies. And let’s be honest, we don’t want to see some AI version of our favorite actors in movies anyway.
The future of Hollywood is in shambles as the studios fail to meet the demands and come to a negotiation with their actors and writers. As long as the strikes go on, major movies will keep seeing delays.
As of now, Dune 2 is set to release on March 14, 2023.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
