Moviegoers in the Land of the Rising Sun will have significantly longer to wait for Dune: Part Two‘s premiere. Today, together with a one-minute cut of its latest trailer, Warner Bros. Japan announced that the movie will be released in January 2024. Previously—even as the second official trailer dropped online in late June—Japanese marketing materials had only stated that Dune: Part Two was “Coming Soon.”
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— デューン 砂の惑星 PART2 (@dunemovie_jp) July 19, 2023
『デューン 砂の惑星 PART2』
2024年1月公開🪐
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今、決戦のとき─
全宇宙の覇権を賭けた壮大な物語が始まる💥#デューン2 pic.twitter.com/S77Rz5p2m6
As it stands now, this means that Dune: Part Two will arrive in Japan over eight weeks after the movie’s domestic release date on November 3, 2023.
This roll-out schedule is by no means unprecedented when it comes to theatrical releases in Japan. While some blockbusters do premiere there on the same day as the United States—such as both Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Flash—it’s typical for release dates to diverge.
A number of this summer’s film releases have (or will) hit Japanese theaters 1-3 weeks later—that includes Barbie, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Meanwhile, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is premiering on August 4, 2023, which is also a full eight weeks after that movie’s domestic release date.
The ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike (started last week) has raised concerns that releases may be delayed for some 2023 movies, both domestically and internationally. Given the timing however, it’s improbable that this Japan release date announcement is related to recent developments with the labor union.
Check out our up-to-date list of Dune: Part Two international release dates, for all officially confirmed premieres in other countries.
