EXCLUSIVE: Unlike its predecessor, Dune: Part Two won’t be debuting at the Venice Film Festival, we can reveal.
The sequel, one of the year’s most anticipated movies, has an early-November global launch date so Venice is too early, we hear from sources — partly due to the VFX work still to do, partly due to the later release date.
Two years ago, Dune opened to much fanfare on the Lido before playing Toronto, New York and other festivals. The Warner Bros release was staggered globally between September and late October, when the film launched in the U.S.
Dune: Part Two still might get a fevered festival berth, however. New York, which runs September 29-October 15, is a possibility, for example.
The Legendary-produced movie sees Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skargard, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Charlotte Rampling return to the franchise with new cast members Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken, Tim Blake Nelson and more.
Denis Villeneuve’s sequel will explore the journey of Paul Atreides (Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) 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 universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
The shape of this year’s A-list festivals is gradually beginning to emerge even if there remain more questions than answers. We know that Cannes is likely to attract Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese among others, and that Wes Anderson is in the bag. Venice surely will benefit from a streamer contingent, while movies such as Ken Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla also are in contention.
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Among big movies that remain question marks for festival debuts are the likes of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and David Fincher’s Killer. Killer — which has a November 10 release date — and Maestro are both from Netflix, and there are conversations at the moment about potential fall festival play. Ferrari still doesn’t have a U.S. distributor, so there are a number of moving parts on that one, but things still could come together quickly for the pic about the legendary Italian carmaker to have a fairytale Venice launch.
While Legendary won’t be repped by Dune: Part Two on the Lido, don’t count out another of the studio’s charges in the shape of Jeymes Samuel’s historical drama The Book of Clarence. The film’s impressive cast includes LaKeith Stanfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Micheal Ward and RJ Cyler. The Book of Clarence, which counts Jay-Z, James Lassiter and Tendo Nagenda among its producers, has a September 22 release date via Sony.
Legendary, Warner Bros and Venice declined to comment.
