After months of speculation, Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers have officially green-lit Dune Part 2 on Tuesday. This is no surprise for those who saw Dune (which is revealed to be titled Dune: Part in the intro credits). Warner Bros was waiting to officially announce a Dune sequel until they saw the results of the box office. Dune opened up to a $41 million dollar domestic opening weekend. Currently Dune has a global box office haul of $223.2 million making it the most successful opening weekend for a day and date premiere for HBO Max/theatrical release. Director Denis Villeneuve always imagined his adaptation of the novel as a two part film and is excited to continue working in the desert. “I just received news from Legendary that we are officially moving forward with Dune: Part Two,” the filmmaker said. “It was a dream of mine to adapt Frank Herbert’s Dune, and I have the fans, the cast, and crew, Legendary and Warner Bros. to thank for supporting this dream. This is only the beginning.”
Dune is considered by many as the grandfather of much of the science fiction work you see today including Star Wars. The story follows young Paul Atreides as his family is sent to the desert planet Arrakis and partakes in a grand war that has taken place over centuries. Dune was considered by many to be adaptable for the big screen. There has been multiple attempts to recreate the magic from the influential Frank Herbert novel of the same name. There was a Dune film in 1984 by David Lynch that was released to overwhelming negative response by critics and fans of the novel alike. Many had given up hope about adapting Dune until lifelong fan Denis Villeneuve was given the opportunity to direct his dream adaption, that would be accessible to audiences and honor the spirit of the novel. With the amount of love critically and commercially Dune is receiving, it seems Denis’s wish has came true.
Dune is directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Issac, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Dave Bautista, Chang Chen, Stellan Skarsgard and Javier Bardem. It is out in theaters worldwide.
(All photos from IMDB and trailer from Youtube)
