Sorry, Fremen, 'Dune' Delayed Until 2021

Bad news for the Fremen of Arakis, Warner Bros. delayed Dune, the long-awaited adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic book series, to October 1st, 2021. The film joins the ranks of Black Widow and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the already-delayed James Bond film Not Time to Die, which were all delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Originally set for release in December 2020, Dune was one of two major upcoming Warner releases to get bumped because of the pandemic. Weeks ago, Warners bumped Wonder Woman 1984 to December 25th—though, it seems unlikely that that will happen now. Last month, Warners made a huge bet on driving people back to cinemas with the release of Tenet. Flouting health experts' advice, the release, which saw numerous delays of its own, landed with a thud. Though the movie is making money overseas, Christopher Nolan's latest time-bending action movie made just $45 million in its first month. For context, Tenet grossed less in its opening weekend than Nolan's 2002 low-key thriller Insomnia.

Dune's delay is more bad news for the movie theater business. This week, Regal and Cineworld announced that they would begin closing theaters in the U.S. and the U.K.

The delay also spells concerns for the rest of Warners' slate of upcoming releases, particularly The Batman, which went into emergency shutdown mode after the film's star Robert Pattinson tested positive for COVID. As of now, Warners has The Batman scheduled for October 1st, 2021, so that'll probably get bumped as well. To when? Probably pretty far from Dune.

Furthermore, this is all contingent on the U.S. stepping up and solving the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed more than 205,000 people and infected much of the White House, including President Trump. If the U.S. cannot contain the virus, it's unlikely that any of these movies will be hitting theaters anytime soon.