Deadline has confirmed that Legendary/Warner Bros.’ Dune will be opening day-and-date with the U.S. in China on Oct. 22 while Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond, No Time to Die, will open on Oct. 29.
Legendary East is handling the release of Dune in the PRC. Given Legendary’s ownership by Wanda, Dune will be blasted everywhere in the country, and seen in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities as well.
No Time to Die is being distributed by Universal overseas. Both are vital markets in boosting both event pics’ global grosses; China being an important market for 007, one which Eon/Universal/MGM intentionally waited to rebound in the throes of the pandemic.
Both features are confirmed by Maoyan as upcoming releases. Dune and No Time to Die are the only two Hollywood movies which we knew had recently been granted certificates and we were waiting on release dates. The last Bond film, Spectre, did $83.5M in the PRC while Skyfall grossed $59M. In regards to Dune director Denis Villeneuve fare in the Middle Kingdom, Arrival grossed $16M while Blade Runner 2049 made $11.7M, however, this sci-fi spectacle should feasibly play with Chinese crowds.
Both of these movies come after the October 1 Chinese National Day holiday which will see local pics, so these will be the first big Hollywood movies since Free Guy. Meanwhile, it looks like Disney/Marvel features Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings won’t be getting Chinese release dates.