A Dune Sequel Is Officially in the Works: 'This Is Only the Beginning'

Dune
Dune

Chiabella James/Warner Bros

Dune is moving forward with a pre-planned sequel after seeing box office success during its first weekend in theaters.

The Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi film, which premiered in theaters and on HBO Max on Oct. 22, grossed $40.1 million in its opening weekend. On Tuesday, Legendary, the production company behind the film, confirmed Dune: Part Two is officially in the works.

"This is only the beginning...Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead," Legendary posted on Twitter, along with an orange image reading "Dune: Part Two." Legendary added, "We're excited to continue the journey!"

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With its impressive box office numbers, Dune pulled in the highest three-day total in sales since Warner Bros. started its simultaneous release schedule, in which Warner Bros. films premiere both in theaters and on HBO Max for 30 days.

The movie, which is an adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name and comes after the 1984 David Lynch film, covers about half of the events that take place in the book.

Dune stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa. Chalamet celebrated the news of the sequel on Instagram Tuesday, posting the same image shared by Legendary on Twitter and simply captioning his post with three smiley faces.

He also thanked everyone for seeing Dune and his other recent release, The French Dispatch, writing on his Instagram Story, "THANK YOU to EVERYONE who saw these movies in theaters this past weekend !!! The movies exist because of the cast and crew but actually going to see them in theaters got it over the finish line !! So THANK YOU !!!!!"

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(L-r) ZENDAYA as Chani and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release.
(L-r) ZENDAYA as Chani and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release.

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

While few details have been revealed about the upcoming Dune sequel, Villeneuve — who will return for the second film — told The Los Angeles Times he hopes to give certain characters more time to shine in Dune: Part Two.

"There are some characters that are less developed that I'm keeping for the second film — that's the way I found the equilibrium. We tried in this movie to stay as close as possible to Paul's experience," the director said. "Then, in the second one, I will have time to develop some characters that were left aside a little bit. That's the theory. I hope it will work."

According to Deadline, the second Dune film will premiere exclusively in theaters for a set window, with no HBO Max simultaneous streaming release plan.

Dune: Part Two is set to premiere Oct. 20, 2023.