Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune is coming to Netflix on Oct. 1, 2023. The licensing agreement may be a vestige of the prior release date for Dune: Part Two, which was originally slated for release this fall. While fans won’t get the sequel until March of 2024, at least they can console themselves with a re-watch of this instant classic.
Dune fans are still heartbroken over Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to move Dune: Part Two from its original release date on Oct. 20, 2023 to March 15, 2024 instead. It was a shock to many since there were already two trailers out and all the other publicity well underway, however, many speculated that WB delayed the release date because of the Hollywood labor strikes. Not only would actors have been unable to give interviews or make public appearances promoting the film, but the studio had no new content in the works. The delays stretched out finished content through the end of 2024, making up for the time when writers and actors are not working this summer.
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It’s possible that this licensing deal with Netflix is another part of the Dune promotional strategy left over from the original release date. While Dune has been available on WB’s streaming service Max for some time now, Netflix remains the most ubiquitous streamer in the industry. Putting the movie there gives it a chance to be seen by more people as the sequel approaches.
That will be important since these movies are very tightly tied together. Villeneuve approached the “unadaptable” novel Dune by breaking the story in half and making one book into two movies. Seeing the second one without having seen the first one will likely not be an option, and even die-hard fans will want to rewatch the first installment shortly before seeing the new one.
Author Frank Herbert wrote six novels in his Dune Chronicles, and his son Brian Herbert has co-written many more books in the series with author Kevin J. Anderson. Villeneuve has said that he hopes to make a trilogy of movies – two adapting Dune and one adapting the second book, Dune Messiah. He has not made any mention of the other four books, which are stranger and more esoteric with every page.
Warner Bros., however, has high expectations for the franchise. A spinoff series titled Dune: The Sisterhood is in the works now for Max. The show will be set 10,000 years before the events of the movies – still about 12,000 years after the present day – and will be about the formation of the Bene Gesserit. There is no release date in place for that show, and details on the production progress have been scarce.
For now, fans will have to make due with another rewatch of Dune: Part One – either on Max or on Netflix. The movie is also available on DVD and Blu-ray, or on digital stores. Dune: Part Two hits theaters on March 15, 2024.
