‘Dune 2’ Updates: Release Date Delayed To 2024 & Everything Else You Need To Know

The ‘Dune 2’ hype is as big as a sandworm. However, the second film’s release date has been pushed back amid the Hollywood strikes. Get all the latest updates about the film.

• Dune: Part Two will now be released in 2024.
• Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya return for the second film.
• The first trailer was released on May 3.

Dune 2 is going to be even bigger and more epic than the first film. After the first trailer was released on May 3, the second film is already surpassing expectations. Denis Villeneuve has returned to direct Dune: Part Two, which will undoubtedly be one of the biggest movies of 2024. Unfortunately, Dune: Part Two has become the latest film to be delayed as the Hollywood strikes continue.

Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Denis debuted the first trailer at CinemaCon, and the video was released wide on May 3. The footage revealed Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan talking about the secrets of Arrakis and Austin Butler completely bald as Feyd-Rautha. Nearly two months after the first trailer dropped, a second one was released on June 29. The new footage showed Timothée and Zendaya gearing up for battle and revealed Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV. HollywoodLife has rounded up all the details we know so far, including the new release date, the star-studded cast, and more.

Dune 2 Release Date

Dune: Part Two will now be released on March 15, 2024. Warner Bros. announced in August 2023 that the film was being delayed until the new year. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have disrupted the 2023 movie release calendar as writers and actors continue to seek new and fair contracts from the studios. The actors’ strike prevents cast members from promoting films like Dune: Part Two.

The sequel was originally supposed to be released on October 20, 2023, but it was eventually pushed to November 17. Before the strikes, Dune: Part Two’s release date was actually moved up to November 3.

The movie is a direct continuation of the 2021 film, which was released on October 21, 2021. Dune had a simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dune: Part Two will be released exclusively in theaters.

Dune 2 Cast

Timothée Chalamet will return as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two. He’ll be joined by other returning cast members, including Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohaim, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thurfir Hawat.

Dune 2 has assembled an incredible ensemble cast. The sequel will feature several new additions: Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot, Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV, and Souheila Yacoub as Shishakli. The film also cast Tim Blake Nelson in a mystery role, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Christopher’s casting was revealed in early May. The Oscar-winner’s character is the “ruler of the known universe,” per The Hollywood Reporter. The emperor tries to fight the rebellion and is a villain to the population that he rules over.  Fans got their first look at the character in the second trailer.

Princess Irulan is the daughter of the Emperor. Dune: Part Two’s director told Vanity Fair that Princess Irulan’s “stake could not be higher because she’s afraid that her father could lose the throne, could lose everything. When I met Florence, I was struck by her assurance, how grounded she is as a young woman, how direct, how unapologetic. She has something inherently royal about her. I will definitely believe that Florence could become, in the future, a prime minister.”

Fans have been curious about how Austin’s voice will sound as Feyd given how his voice transformed to play Elvis Presley in the Elvis biopic. Dave revealed that Austin’s performance is “terrifying” in the film. “I don’t know who this guy was, but it’s not Austin Butler. It’s not Elvis. His voice is different, his look is different. Everything about his demeanor is terrifying,” Dave told USA Today.

Denis Villeneuve also told Vanity Fair, “Austin Butler brought to the screen something that would be a cross between a psychotic, sociopath serial killer and Mick Jagger.”

Is There A Dune 2 Trailer?

Yes, there are currently two Dune 2 trailers out. The first trailer initially debuted at CinemaCon on April 25. “Part One is more of a contemplative movie. Part Two is an action-packed, epic, war movie. It is much more dense. We went to all-new locations,” directed Denis Villeneuve said before the trailer was shown, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I didn’t want a feeling of repetition. It’s all new sets. Everything is new.”

Timothée Chalamet added, “In the first movie, Paul is a student. We really see Paul Atreides become a leader … become a redeemer of the Fremen people in a sense.”

The footage featured Paul’s first ride on a Sandworm and the first look at Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha. Austin undergoes quite the transformation for this role, appearing as a bald albino. Denis said that Feyd is an “Olympic sword master crossed with a psychotic serial killer.”

The movie’s second trailer shows Paul explaining a bit of his family background and how they have rebelled against the Harkkonens for “centuries.” There are also plenty of scenes of Timothée and Zendaya preparing to go to battle, as well as a few romantic scenes. Paul also admits he’s been having horrific prophetic visions. When the emperor is revealed, he orders people to “deal with this prophet” and calls Paul’s father “a weak man.” The trailer ends with Timothée staring out at an explosion.

What Will Dune 2 Be About?

Dune 2 will dive into the second half of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune. The official synopsis for the film reads: “This follow-up film will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”

Denis Villeneuve stressed to Vanity Fair that Dune: Part Two is “not a sequel, it’s a second part. There’s a difference. I wanted the movie to really open just where we left the characters. There’s no time jump. I wanted dramatic continuity with part one.”

The director also noted that Paul and Chani’s relationship is the crux of the film. “I wanted to make a very human movie, very close to the characters, despite the scope of the film,” he said. “I kept saying to my crew, ‘The most important thing is that spark, that relationship between both of these characters.’ If we don’t capture that, if we don’t have that onscreen, there’s no movie. The epicenter of the story is this relationship.”

Timothee added, “The universe of Dune is a complex world of geopolitics and with tons of ecological and technological metaphors that hold up today. But at the center, there’s this relationship where Chani sort of becomes a moral compass… Even to say that out loud feels kind of huge, and she’s really the humanizing, grounding force to that.”

Zendaya pointed out that love is “something we can all relate to.” She continued, “These characters literally live on another planet, right? They’re aliens. It was interesting finding these tender moments in such turmoil and chaos. These characters are just young people forced into really, really intense circumstances.”

Will There Be A Dune 3?

Dune 3 is a big possibility. While Dune: Part Two is exploring the second half of Frank Herbert’s Dune, there is an official sequel titled Dune Messiah. Denis Villeneuve has openly discussed a third Dune movie.

“Now I could envision a third movie and to make the adaptation of Dune Messiah that will complete Paul Atreides’s story that I think would make sense,” he told Collider in 2022. “But each movie, those movies are monsters, and I can only do one at a time. If I survive Dune: Part Two, then I might do the Messiah. When I start to think about that, I get tired. It’s too much. I need to focus on one project at a time, to be honest. But Part Three will be…I’m making sure that Part Three will be doable.