It seems the spice won’t flow until next year, as Warner Bros. and Legendary are moving Denis Villeneueve‘s Dune off its December release date and will unveil the epic sci-fi movie on Oct. 1, 2021, Collider has exclusively learned.

The big-budget adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic novel boasts an all-star ensemble including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård and Oscar winner Javier Bardem.

Dune had been slated to open on Dec. 18, but Warner Bros. recently moved Wonder Woman 1984 to Christmas Day, which seemed to complicate matters. At the time, a source told Collider that Warner Bros. was confident the marketplace could support multiple tentpoles, as it has every year around the holidays, but with no vaccine in sight, Americans have remained reluctant to return to theaters even though no new COVID-19 cases have been traced back to cinemas.



Meanwhile, MGM’s recent decision to delay the release of its new James Bond movie No Time to Die forced Cineworld to announce it will temporarily close all of its Regal Cinemas locations in America, which is still without its top-rated media market — New York City, where theaters have remained closed during the pandemic.

The Regal news is said to have sent shockwaves through the industry this weekend, forcing all studios to reevaluate their plans for the rest of the year. As of now, however, Warner Bros. still has WW84 on the schedule for Dec. 25, while Disney remains slated to release Pixar’s Soul in November.

The Dune delay has nothing to do with the movie itself, and Villeneuve is said to have been supportive of the decision having made it for the big screen, which is where Warner Bros. and Legendary felt it should premiere. Neither studio can afford to take a bath on Dune, so not only does this decision make financial sense for them, but it’s a health-conscious choice as well. In the meantime, you can click here to watch the trailer for Dune, and click here to check out a raft of gorgeous images from the film, which certainly looks like it’ll be worth the wait.

Of course, it doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to figure out that Dune is now set to open on the same day as WB’s The Batman, which means that Matt Reeves‘ superhero movie starring Robert Pattinson could be on the move soon as well. Stay tuned…