Well, here’s some more bad news.
Collider is reporting that Denis Villeneueve’s Dune adaptation is no longer opening on December 18, 2020. Instead, the sci-fi epic will open on October 1, 2021. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh ugh. That is quite the delay.
But it is not a surprising delay following the news that Regal is temporarily closing all of its U.S. locations as many markets are still shut down and those that are open are experiencing lackluster crowds. The Regal decision greatly impacts the amount of money any film can make right now and further encourages studios to delay their films until a time when more cineplexes are open. It is just another monkey wrench thrown into the movie industry’s plans to re-open safely as COVID-19 rages on.
Yes, for those keeping track, Dune’s new release date of October 1, 2021 happens to be the date that The Batman is supposed to open. You can expect WB will be shifting the Caped Crusader shortly.
The delay of Dune all but assures us that no major movie will open during the remainder of 2020. Yes, Wonder Woman 1984 is still tentatively set to open in December but you can bet WB is re-thinking that, especially after Regal’s decision to shut things down again. Disney still swears they’re releasing Pixar’s Soul but they can easily transition that over to Disney+ without much hassle or warning. The writing is on the wall after Tenet’s disappointing performance, resurgent coronavirus outbreaks and Regal’s closure: the rest of 2020 is officially canceled.