Dune is being pulled from Netflix hours before its sequel debuts in theaters

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If you were planning to catch the first of Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies on Netflix before the sequel arrives on March 1, you better hurry up.

A handful of big movies will be leaving the platform in the coming weeks. Chief among them is Dune: Part One (2021), which is leaving Netflix on February 29, right before the theatrical release of Part Two, giving subs one last chance to watch (or rewatch) it ahead of the long-anticipated sequel.

Only recently we were reporting on Brooklyn Nine-Nine touching down on Netflix next month as part of the company's ongoing efforts to constantly swap in and out licensed content which resonates with viewers worldwide. The matter of distribution gets way more complicated in the US market, where the number of streaming services and networks available is way higher than everywhere else. As the 'streaming wars' continue, it's becoming more and more common to see almost every competitor trying to 'juice up' their respective libraries with content which doesn't belong to them, and with how fast things seem to be moving nowadays, we might be heading towards streaming essentially becoming cable TV but online.

The fact that Dune: Part One is leaving the most successful streaming platform of them all at the end of February isn't a coincidence either. Warner Bros. Discovery has been strongly pushing for licensing deals under CEO David Zaslav's leadership, who last year explained how lending out their biggest IPs can boost the value of their 'permanent' library. While that theory admittedly has some holes in it, we can see the logic behind letting people enjoy the first Dune movie on Netflix before removing it just as the sequel arrives, potentially pushing subs towards the company's Max platform, where the Warner-distributed content has a more permanent home.

If you're wondering about when Dune: Part Two might arrive on Max, you'll have to wait a bit longer, as the movie is expected to perform quite well at the box office, which could delay its domestic and streaming release to the second half of the year.

Need more spice (heh) in your life? Popverse has all the Dune coverage you could want. From Dune: Part Two's ending explained, to details on the sequels and TV show prequels that are planned, to how to prep for the next film with a Dune watch order, to which Frank Herbert story Denis Villeneuve believes would make a great Dune: Part Three, and even which movies to watch after you've finished Dune.