Naturally, WB gave Denis the keys to the franchise, confirming that a second part is coming just days later with filming set to begin in July. After the film nearly topped the list of nominees at the 94th Academy Awards, Denis had exciting news to share about Part 2 of Dune.
According to an exclusive interview with Collider, Denis, who will return as the director and co-writer for the sequel’s screenplay, has already finished and “solidified” the film’s script. He added that he and co-writer Jon Spaihts has done enough work on the script to start preparing for the film more than a year ahead of its October 2023 release window. Denis also teased that fans can expect to see more IMAX footage than the first movie in Dune: Part 2, which should put the movie in a good position to hit the billion-dollar mark in a relatively COVID-19 free world. The first Dune film by Denis adapts the first book of Frank Herbert’s Dune saga, which, throughout its 156-minute runtime, follows the war between the House of Atreides and House Harkonnen for control over the planet Arrakis, a planet that holds the most precious resource in the Dune universe, spice. After Dune’s successful premiere last October, Denis couldn’t help but acknowledge there is much more pressure for the sequel compared to the first movie. Whereas the first film drew in audiences that were already familiar with Herbert’s novels, the sequel is expected to cater to a broader audience, which comes with heightened expectations. As is always the case with any sequel, Dune: Part 2 will have to find a way to balance introducing a fresh and exciting new world while also tying its events together with that of the first film. The silver lining here is that Denis’ first attempt was largely a success. His decision to split the film into two parts, in turn, gave the first movie a chance to tackle everything it needed to set up for a sequel. One of the film’s biggest criticisms was that it felt too much like it was just a prelude to something bigger, which the sequel will be. As far as valuations go, the harshest analyses on Dune are something that most directors would love to have for their films. With at least five more sequels worth of source material to use in future live-action adaptations and an arguably chunkier second half of the 1965 novel left to adapt, we wouldn’t be ruling out Denis using Part 2 to set up a cinematic universe that could last well onto the next decade. Of course, for that to happen, Dune: Part 2 will have to stack up to the lauded first film. Audiences will have to wait until October 20, 2023, to find out if this is the case or not.
