Hollywood is again playing release-date musical chairs amid the surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus.

Bad news for Venom fans: they will have to wait a bit longer to catch the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Instead of opening in Singapore cinemas Sept 16, the Tom Hardy-starring, Andy Serkis-helmed Marvel movie will now debut Oct 14 (In the US, its release is pushed from Sept 25 to Oct 15.)Venom: Let There be Carnage had already been delayed a few times during earlier stages of the pandemic. The latest decision to delay the movie is caused by the spike in Covid-19 cases due to the highly contagious delta variant, which led to a drop in consumer confidence in returning to the cinemas.

Taking over Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s Sept 16 slot now is Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi tome. The star-studded epic was originally slated to open on Oct 14; it will have its world premiere on Sept 3 at the Venice Film Festival.

In the US, Dune — which features an acclaimed cast, including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Chang Chen, Javier Bardem — will open in cinemas and on HBO Max Oct 22. So good news for Singapore's Dune fans, they get to watch the movie more than a month earlier than the Americans.Photos: Warner Bros Pictures, TPG News/Click Photos