Two more major Hollywood films delayed: 'Dune' and 'The Batman'

One small bright spot is that we'll get to see 'The Matrix 4' earlier than expected

The release date for 'Dune', starring Timothee Chalamet and Josh Brolin, has been pushed back from December 2020. Warner Bros / Instagram

This week, it was announced that the release of the next James Bond film is being delayed yet again. It was originally slated to hit screens in April this year, but No Time to Die will now hit cinemas in April 2021.

And now, the release of two more major films – the Abu Dhabi-shot Dune and The Batman – has been delayed. The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, hit a production setback recently when a cast member, thought to be its star, Robert Pattinson, tested positive for the coronavirus. Filming resumed in mid-September.

Denis Villeneuve's big-budget sci-fi epic Dune was originally to be released this December, but will now be released on Friday, October 1, 2021 (all going to plan). Meanwhile, The Batman, which was scheduled to come out in October next year, will now hit screens in March 2022.

A lack of big-name releases, as well as social distancing measures, is hitting cinema chains hard. This week, major chain Cineworld announced it was closing all its cinemas in the UK, Ireland and the US.

The Dune trailer was released in September:

One bright spot? The much-awaited Matrix sequel, Lana Wachowski's The Matrix 4, starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, is now set to be released in December next year (it was originally planned for April 2022).
The film has moved into this slot, however, only because of the delay of another movie – DC Comics' Black Adam starring Dwayne Johnson, which was originally meant to come out in December next year. Currently, there is no rescheduled release date. Another DC scheduling delay has pushed Shazam 2 from a November 4, 2022, release to June 2, 2023.

One film that is still on the schedule for 2020, for now, is Wonder Woman 1984, which should hit screens around Christmas.