Concerns about Covid-19 have kept theaters closed in New York and Los Angeles—and kept audiences away elsewhere. As a result, studios have delayed several movie premieres until next year, and now, Dune joins that list.
Warner Bros. will release its movie version of Frank Herbert’s award-winning 1965 SF/fantasy novel on Oct. 1, 2021, according to Collider. It had previously been set to premiere on Dec. 18 of this year.
The film, which tells a story of interplanetary conflict set thousands of years in the future, is directed by Arrival’s Denis Villeneuve and stars Little Women’s Timothée Chalamet, Doctor Sleep’s Rebecca Ferguson, and recent Emmy winner Zendaya, among others. Its first trailer was released less than a month ago.
The news comes in the wake of other recent book-to-screen reschedulings. Less than two weeks ago, Disney announced that it was postponing Death on the Nile, based on the Kirkus-starred Agatha Christie mystery, to Dec. 18, and Deep Water, based on the Patricia Highsmith crime thriller, to Aug. 13, 2021.
If Death on the Nile’s date holds, it will one of very few book-based films to be theatrically released before the end of the year. Another is Let Him Go, based on Larry Watson’s 2013 novel and starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane; it’s currently set for a Nov. 6 theatrical premiere.
The upcoming spy thriller No Time to Die, featuring Ian Fleming’s James Bond, was originally slated to come out this past April, but was delayed multiple times; its current release date is Apr. 2, 2021.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
