“Dune” HBO Max Co-Launch Undecided
Ever since it began its promotion for simultaneous cinema and HBO Max releases, Warner Bros. Pictures has been touting that its entire 2021 slate would be a part of the move.
That included its biggest release of the year – Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune”. However out of all the films taking this path, “Dune” is the one that has hit the most pushback from those involved be it Legendary who co-financed and co-produced the project to Villeneuve and the cast.
A new report at Deadline indicates the film still isn’t guaranteed to have a simultaneous HBO Max release despite Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” doing it and still opening to a strong $48.5 million five day launch and currently at nearly $300 million at the global box-office after just over a week of release.
Those numbers are suggesting Fall releases should be back towards pre-pandemic numbers and so Warners may seriously consider keeping “Dune” to theaters.
The film opens October 1st and Warners has indicated its post-2021 plans are for new release movies to premiere on HBO Max 45 days after their cinema launch.