'Dune: Part Two' Is an Ambitious Epic With a Budget to Match

THE WORLD OF author Frank Herbert's iconic Dune novels has been depicted on screen a number of times, from David Lynch's version in the '80s to the TV miniseries in the early 2000s. But the filmmaking technology of the time, not to mention budgetary constraints, made it hard to capture the the scale, scope and surrealism of the genre-bending doorstopper.

That changed in 2021 when auteur director Denis Villeneuve released Dune, and he has stepped up his ambitions even further with its sequel Dune: Part Two, out now.

Picking up where 2021's Dune left off, this continuation of the ambitious book-to-screen adaptation sees Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) grappling with what it means to be the chosen one in a prophecy, as the evil House Harkonnen tightens its grip on the desert planet Arrakis, and the shady dealings of the galactic emperor and the Bene Gesserit religious sect place everyone he holds dear in ever greater danger.

While the first installment of the saga was pensive and slow (albeit visually stunning), Part Two picks up the pace and delivers much more of the action and spectacle that moviegoers expect from a science fiction blockbuster.

But creating a cinematic masterpiece doesn't come cheap.

How much did Dune: Part Two cost?

The budget of Dune: Part Two was reportedly $190 million, making it the most expensive of Villeneuve's directorial projects to date. For comparison, the budget for the first Dune movie was $165 million, but that movie featured fewer characters, settings, and pricey action sequences.

While a trippy sci-fi sequel featuring sandworms, psychedelics and a lot of philosophizing might seem off-putting to ticket buyers at first, the huge success of the first Dune movie, combined with the star power on show in the sequel, mean that Warner Bros. likely has a hit on its hands, and will easily make a profit on that nine-figure investment.

The international box office figures forDune: Part Two on its opening weekend alone are somewhere in the region of $178 million, and IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond has claimed that IMAX screenings are "virtually sold out for weeks."

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