Co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve’s greatest challenge when making Dune was to ensure Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic found an audience that would crave a return to that universe. That bar was more than cleared when the film properly known as Dune: Part One debuted to impressive returns and fan based hype, which put the anticipated but never guaranteed sequel into the works. Returning to the world of Timothée Chalamet’s warrior ways poses even greater obstacles ahead for Villeneuve, which includes Villeneuve’s strategy on how to discuss the future properly.
Don’t expect too many details about what’s in store for Dune: Part Two though. While ET Canada did get Denis Villeneuve to lay down a taste of what’s in store, it’s very vague. You can’t really blame the man, as the director also known for Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 gave the following reasons for being so tight lipped about the future:
I cannot say nothing about the movie – I don't like to talk about projects as I am doing them – but it's probably going to be the biggest challenge of my career, again, because it's even more complex than Part One.
Denis Villeneuve hasn’t been stingy in previous updates on the progress of Dune: Part Two, as we recently learned that “soft prep” has begun on this next adventure. With the tightening of the screenplay, as well as the storyboarding process on deck, moving towards the eventual filming phase is only a matter of time. Taking into account other pieces of information that Villeneuve has dropped in the wake of the Dune’s surprise sequel announcement made during Part One’s theatrical release, there’s still plenty to mull over.
More specifically, Denis Villeneuve has promised “an amazing playground” in how he’ll be handling Dune: Part Two’s story. Using the previous film as a primer for those new to the world, the seemingly self-contained nature of that first story worked to the franchise’s advantage. Case in point: the absolute feeding frenzy over who would play the infamous Feyd Rautha stirred die hard fans into a frenzy of speculation. That subject was also recently addressed, as Elvis’ Austin Butler has supposedly been cast in the role.
If anyone needed three words to sum up what to expect in the sequel to Dune, Denis Villeneuve description of the story being “a chess game” couldn’t be more appropriate. Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides has survived a massive attempt to wipe his family line from the board of play, and destiny is hinting towards great and/or terrible things in his future. While not all of us get cool texts from Villeneuve signalling “Muad’Dib time”, whatever the next update on Dune: Part Two holds will be quite exciting to behold, whenever that shall be.
Dune: Part Two won’t be storming theaters until October 20th, 2023, so there’s time for fans to catch up on their reading. Also, if you’re looking to revisit Dune, the film is not only available for rental or purchase, but at the time of this writing it’s also returned to streaming on HBO Max. That shouldn’t push you away from finding your destiny among the 2022 movie releases, as to paraphrase Duncan Idaho’s wisdom, that’s where everything’s happening.
