Part Two Has Officially Been Delayed Until March 2024

Sony kicked off this strike-influenced release-date shuffle by knocking “Kraven the Hunter” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” to 2024 (“Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has been delayed indefinitely). Meanwhile, “Dune: Part 2” is the second Zendaya film to get punted after Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” got yanked from its opening night slot at the Venice Film Festival and consigned to a ho-hum April 26, 2024 berth (which certainly doesn’t help the prestige picture’s awards prospects).

All eyes turn to the remaining studio tentpoles slated for release in 2023’s fourth quarter. Warner Bros. is reportedly considering a move for December heavy-hitters “The Color Purple” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.” Disney has the next Marvel Cinematic Universe entry “The Marvels” cued up for November 10, while WB has yet to mull a move for “Wonka” (December 10).

The argument for these date shifts is that the strike prohibits actors from doing promotion, which, undoubtedly, hampers the studio’s promotional efforts. But, and I’m just thinking out loud here, if actors are that important to your marketing efforts, maybe you pay them what they’re worth. Because the Timothee Chalamets, Zendayas and Florence Pughs of tomorrow gotta start somewhere.

So let right be done, and get these movies released on schedule.