The anticipation for Dune: Part Two has only ratcheted up after the first film scored numerous Oscar wins. The addition of Elvis’ Austin Butler, Black Widow’s Florence Pugh, and acting veteran Christopher Walken only increased the film’s hype along with other casting news. Denis Villeneuve teased the film’s pre-production after hinting at a myriad of possibilities for the upcoming sequel. But after silence on the sequel, fans finally got good news as the sci-fi movie started filming with production marking the moment with a nice celebration.
Dune fans have known the sequel would start filming this summer since early this year. Of course, the day finally came when production on the sci-fi film started. The production team decided to mark the moment by jumping on Dune's Twitter account to document the start. The announcement kept things simple with a few words and a clapboard.
We’re rolling. Production on Dune: Part Two has begun. #DuneMovie pic.twitter.com/H31MTEcvcSJuly 18, 2022
The fandom can rejoice now that the sci-fi sequel is starting to film. They should be ready for a “chess game” as Denis Villeneuve mentioned there will be more flexibility with the story as more characters are introduced in the second film. Seeing the custom clapboard made everything seem official. The phrase “Long live the fighters!” was a nice nod to the first film as the cast and crew get ready to create the upcoming sequel.
But the cherry on top was the post being tagged with the name of key cast members, including Butler, Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet, and Javier Bardem. This just reaffirmed the confirmed cast despite a few missing names from the tagged post. Hopefully, including those names may be a hint at who took part in the scene on the first day of shooting. Given how secretive the first shoot was, this will probably be the last hint fans get until the final product arrives in the theaters.
The Dune sequel is expected to pick up where the original film left off as Paul Atreides sets to fulfill his father Leo’s goal of bringing peace to Arrakis. Zendaya, Chalamet, and Bardem will reprise their roles from the first film while Butler, Pugh, and Walken will play Feyd-Rautha, Princess Irulan, and Emperor Shaddam IV, respectively. No Time to Die’s Léa Seydoux will play Bene Gesserit sisterhood member Margot while No Man’s Land’s Souheila Yacoub will play Fremen member Shishakli in a gender-swap moment. Again, viewers will have to wait until the film drops to see how things turn out.
With production just starting, Villeneuve and co. aren’t expected to deliver Dune: Part Two until November 2023 after it was moved from its original release date of October 20, 2023. But you can keep yourself preoccupied with consulting our 2022 movie schedule to see what new sci-fi films are coming out while you wait on the sequel to be completed.
