As Warner Bros. is prepping for the uber-delayed “Tenet” to finally get released (supposedly) on August 26th in Europe and Canada, they may soon have another major problem in the form of Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget, sci-fi epic, “Dune.”
Despite only set for a December 18 release, a recent Villeneuve interview with the Shanghai International Film Festival, suggests finishing “Dune” on time for that date is still all up in the air. Principal photography has long been finished, but post-production has been chaotic, with the filmmaker unable to work with his crew in putting the finishing touches on the film
“The impact was that it crushed my schedule right now,” he explained. “It will be a sprint to finish the movie on time right now. We were allowed to go back to shoot – we’re going back to shoot those elements in a few weeks, [the ones] we were supposed to shoot earlier. It meant that I also had to finish some elements of the movie like VFX and the editing being in Montreal as my crew stayed in Los Angeles.”
It’s far too early to tell if theaters will even be able to accommodate “Dune” in December as the COVID-19 pandemic has set forth an unpredictable air in the world. Hollywood is beginning to restart production on films and TV series, as well as finishing things up remotely, but that doesn’t mean that movie theaters will be able to screen any new movies this year - a second wave could happen, ditto restrictions in California and New York could remain intact.