‘Dune 2’ Officially Announced
Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited Dune dropped October 22 on HBO Max and in theaters to a strong opening, earning over $40 million domestically. This is the largest debut of Villeneuve’s career and the highest debut for Warner Bros this year, which scheduled all of its 2021 releases on HBO Max and theaters simultaneously. However, a sequel to the epic science fiction classic was never assured until now.
Hollywood Reporter announced today that Dune: Part Two is a go! Villeneuve’s ambition will soon be a reality. Legendary and Warner Bros. announced that they are moving ahead with a sequel scheduled for an October 20, 2023 release. One essential part of the deal is Dune: Part Two will have a strictly theatrical release only. Unlike the first movie, there will be no simultaneous day-and-date release on HBO Max. With only two years to put this together, one has to assume Villeneuve’s works on a sequel have already begun.
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Villeneuve gave a statement in regards to the decision:
“I just received news from Legendary that we are officially moving forward with Dune: Part Two. It was a dream of mine to adapt Frank Herbert’s Dune, and I have the fans, the cast, and the crew, Legendary, and Warner Bros. to thank for supporting this dream. This is only the beginning.”
Dune: Part One consists of a star-studded cast, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellen Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, and several others. The film covers the first half of the first Dune novel, which was published in 1965. Dune: Part Two will cover the rest of Frank Herbert’s highly influential classic.
Internationally, Dune has raked in approximately $223 million, considering that it dropped earlier than it did in the states. However, it will take every penny to make up for the hefty budget of $165 million split 80/20 between Legendary and Warner Bros.
Samba TV, which measures streaming viewership, reported 1.9 million households with Smart TV’s had watched Villeneuve’s Dune. That is the sixth-best weekend debut for Warner Bros/HBO Max day-and-date. Topping the list is Mortal Kombat at 3.8 million. These numbers mean most of those who watched Dune saw it in the theater, which I recommend if possible. The sound and music courtesy of Hans Zimmer, and the superb cinematography are penetrating.
In another statement, Legendary said they are “pleased to officially move forward with Dune: Part Two.”
“We would not have gotten to this point without the extraordinary vision of Denis and the amazing work of his talented crew, the writers, and our stellar cast, our partners at Warners Bros, and of course the fans!”
Frank Herbert’s seminal novel has a long history of adaptations. In the 1970s, filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky acquired the rights to make an ambitious 14-hour adaptation of the book. Unfortunately, the project fell apart and became the subject of the 2013 documentary Jorodowsky’s Dune. David Lynch’s Dune, released in 1984, was initially intended to be a 3-hour long epic but was cut down down to 137 minutes. The 412-page book was virtually crammed into a little over 2 hours of content. While 1984’s Dune is considered to be a flop, it has gained a cult following over the years. In 2000, Frank Herbert’s Dune aired on the Sci-Fi channel to generally favorable reviews followed by its 2003 sequel miniseries Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune. However, television budgets did not do justice in creating the picturesque planet described in the novel.
Dune: Part One was originally scheduled to come out November 20, 2020, but was pushed back to December 18, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dune was again moved to October 1, 2021, taking the date initially planned for The Batman. However, to avoid competition with the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, it was finally scheduled for October 22, 2021.
Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, commented:
“Denis Villeneuve has crafted a film that is both visually extraordinary and emotionally transporting, as evidenced by its global success both critically and at the box office. We are thrilled to continue on this journey with Denis and his cast and crew and our partners at Legendary, and can’t wait to bring you the next chapter of this epic tale to theaters in October 2023.”
Dune: Part One is now showing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Dune: Part Two is due to come out on October 20, 2023.
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Source(s): Hollywood Reporter, IGN, The Guardian, New York Times, Deadline