Denis Villeneuve Calls ‘Dune: Part Two’ the ‘Main Course’ Compared to ‘Appetizer’ of First Film

Ryan Lattanzio and Brian Welk
·2 min read
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The first “Dune” was just an “appetizer” for what Denis Villeneuve has in store with the sequel. “Dune: Part Two,” he says, is “the main course.”

Lucky attendees at the Las Vegas CinemaCon got a first look at Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” during Tuesday’s Warner Bros. Discovery presentation, via extended first look footage. It’s already been reported that the WBD/Legendary film, unlike the 2021 Oscar-winning first entry, won’t appear at the Venice Film Festival as Villeneuve and team polish off the movie’s visual effects, though it certainly looked polished in that first glimpse.

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Villeneuve says the new film picks up just where we left Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother after the original, and the trailer deepens the relationship between himself and Chani (Zendaya) and also shows a scene of him battling to ride one of Arrakis’ massive sand worms, which Chalamet confirmed on stage was done with practical effects.

“Part Two is more action-packed, epic war movie, much more bulk, much more dance,” Villeneuve said, further adding that while this is a resurrection of Arrakis, the film features entirely new sets and designs, with the exception of those spiffy looking suits. What’s more, “Dune: Part Two” was shot entirely in IMAX, compared to just about 40 percent of the original film, Villeneuve added.

Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem are all set to reprise their roles from their first film, with some new (and Oscar-nominated) talents joining the cast. They include Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, and Tim Blake Nelson.

Pugh in particular got big placement in the new trailer, and Villeneuve talked up both Pugh as a “political chess player” and Butler as “an Olympic sword master crossed with a psychotic serial killer.”

Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve once again co-write the script, adapting the second half of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic about the journey of Paul Atreides, seeking revenge for the murder of his father amid an intergalactic battle of the planets.

Filming on the sequel wrapped in December. “Dune: Part One” earned Academy Awards for Best Sound, Visual Effects, Production Design, Original Score, Joe Walker, and Greig Fraser. The film grossed more than $402 million even despite Warner Bros.’ controversial decision to release “Part One” day-and-date in theaters and on Max.

“Dune: Part Two” opens in theaters November 3, 2023.

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