Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American epic space opera film directed by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts. The sequel to Dune, it is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert, and the second installment of Villeneuve's Dune film trilogy. It follows Paul Atreides as he unites with the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem reprise their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux joining the cast.
Development began after Legendary Entertainment acquired film and television rights for the Dune franchise in 2016. Villeneuve signed on as director in 2017, intending to make a two-part adaptation of the novel due to its complexity. Production contracts were only secured for the first film before the second film was greenlit by Legendary in October 2021, subject to the success of the first. Principal photography took place in Budapest, Italy, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi between July and December 2022.
Delayed from a November 2023 release date due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Dune: Part Two premiered at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on February 6, 2024. It was released in the United States on March 1, to positive reviews and grossed $715 million worldwide, surpassing its predecessor and becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of 2024. It received numerous accolades, including being named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by the American Film Institute. It received five nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, winning Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. It also won two BAFTAs for Best Sound and Best Special Visual Effects, and received two nominations at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.
Dune: Part Three, a third film based on Herbert's 1969 novel Dune Messiah, is in production and scheduled to be released on December 18, 2026.
Plot
Following the defeat of House Atreides by House Harkonnen, Princess Irulan—daughter of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV—transmits in her journal her father's betrayal of the Atreides on her recorder. On the planet Arrakis, a Fremen tribe led by Stilgar accompanies Paul Atreides and his pregnant Bene Gesserit mother Lady Jessica to Sietch Tabr. Some Fremen suspect they are spies, while Stilgar and others see signs of the prophecy that a mother and son from the "Outer World" will bring prosperity to Arrakis.The Fremen accept Paul, but Stilgar commands Jessica to succeed Sietch Tabr's dying Reverend Mother by ritually drinking the normally fatal Water of Life. She uses her Bene Gesserit training to transmute the poisonous liquid and survive, inheriting the memories of past Reverend Mothers. The liquid prematurely awakens the mind of her unborn daughter, Alia, allowing Jessica to communicate with her. They agree to focus on convincing the more skeptical northern Fremen of the prophecy, which Chani and her friend Shishakli correctly deduce to be a myth the Bene Gesserit fabricated to manipulate the Fremen. Nonetheless, Chani begins to respect Paul after he declares that he only seeks to fight alongside the Fremen, not rule them.
Paul and Chani fall in love as Paul immerses himself in Fremen culture: learning their language, becoming a Fedaykin fighter, riding a sandworm, and raiding Harkonnen spice-harvesting operations. Paul adopts the Fremen names Usul and Muad'Dib. Due to the continuing spice raids, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen installs his cunning and sadistic nephew Feyd-Rautha as Arrakis's ruler. Lady Margot Fenring of the Bene Gesserit is sent to evaluate Feyd-Rautha as a prospective Kwisatz Haderach and secure his genetic lineage.
Jessica travels south to unite with Fremen fundamentalists who believe most strongly in the prophecy. Paul remains in the north, fearful that his visions of an apocalyptic holy war will come to pass if he goes south as a messiah. During a raid on a smuggler spice harvester, Paul reunites with the warrior Gurney Halleck, who leads Paul to House Atreides' hidden atomic warhead stockpile. Feyd-Rautha unleashes a devastating attack on the northern Fremen, destroying Sietch Tabr, killing Shishakli, and forcing Paul and the survivors to journey south. Upon arrival, Paul drinks the Water of Life and falls into a coma. Jessica hypnotically compels Chani to save Paul; she gives Paul a mixture of her tears with the Water of Life, which awakens him. With his emerging prescience, Paul perceives countless possible futures and identifies a narrow path to victory, along with a vision of an adult Alia on a water-covered Arrakis. He also discovers that Jessica is the Baron's daughter and that the Bene Gesserit orchestrated her union with Duke Leto Atreides to merge Harkonnen and Atreides bloodlines in their plan to create the Kwisatz Haderach.
Paul meets with the southern Fremen war council, galvanizing the crowd by demonstrating his ability to discern their deepest thoughts. He declares himself the Lisan al Gaib—a messianic figure—and challenges the Emperor, who arrives on Arrakis with Irulan and the Sardaukar military force. As the Emperor chastises the Harkonnens for their failures, the Fremen launch an offensive, using atomics and sandworms to overpower the Sardaukar. Paul kills the Baron and captures the Emperor. Meanwhile, Gurney leads an assault on Arrakeen, intercepting and killing Feyd-Rautha's brother and subordinate Beast Rabban.
Paul challenges the Emperor for the throne and, to Chani's dismay, demands to marry Irulan. Having been summoned by the Baron, the other Great Houses arrive in orbit, ready to invade the planet, but Paul threatens to destroy the spice fields if they intervene. Feyd-Rautha volunteers as the Emperor's champion and Paul kills him in their duel. Irulan agrees to marry Paul on condition that he spare her father. The Emperor reluctantly surrenders, but the Great Houses reject Paul's ascendancy and Paul orders the Fremen to attack the orbiting fleet. As Stilgar leads the Fremen onto the captured Sardaukar ships, Jessica and Alia reflect on the beginning of Paul's holy war. Chani refuses to bow to Paul and prepares to depart alone on a sandworm.
Cast
makes an uncredited cameo appearance as Alia Atreides, Paul's unborn sister who appears in his visions as well as communicating to Jessica while in her womb. Babs Olusanmokun and Roger Yuan reprise their roles from the first film as Jamis and Lieutenant Lanville, respectively. Stephen McKinley Henderson filmed scenes reprising his role as Thufir Hawat, while Tim Blake Nelson filmed scenes as an undisclosed character, but their scenes were not included in the final cut. Both were given a "Special Thanks" credit by Villeneuve.Production
Development
In November 2016, Legendary Pictures obtained the film and TV rights for the Dune franchise, based on the eponymous 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. Vice chair of worldwide production for Legendary Mary Parent began discussing with Denis Villeneuve about directing a film adaptation, quickly hiring him after realizing his passion for Dune. In February 2018, Villeneuve was confirmed to be hired as director, and intended to adapt the novel as a two-part film series. Villeneuve ultimately secured a two-film deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, in the same style as the two-part adaption of Stephen King's It in 2017 and 2019. In January 2019, Joe Walker was confirmed as the film's editor. Other crew included Brad Riker as supervising art director, Patrice Vermette as production designer, Paul Lambert as visual effects supervisor, Gerd Nefzer as special effects supervisor, and Thomas Struthers as stunt coordinator.Dune: Part Two was produced by Villeneuve, Mary Parent, and Cale Boyter, with Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison, and Herbert W. Gain serving as executive producers and Kevin J. Anderson as creative consultant. Legendary CEO Joshua Grode confirmed in April 2019 that they plan to make a sequel, adding that "there's a logical place to stop the movie before the book is over".
In December 2020, Villeneuve stated that due to Warner Bros.' plan to release the film in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, the first film could underperform financially, resulting in cancellation of the planned sequel. In an IMAX screening of the first film's first ten minutes, the title logo read Dune: Part One, lending credence to plans for the sequel. In August 2021, Villeneuve spoke more confidently about the chances of a sequel film, iterating his excitement to work with Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya again, while stating Chani would have a bigger role in the sequel. Warner Bros. assured Villeneuve a sequel would be greenlit as long as the film performed well on HBO Max. Just days prior to the first film's release, Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff stated, "Will we have a sequel to Dune? If you watch the movie you see how it ends. I think you pretty much know the answer to that".
On October 26, 2021, Legendary officially greenlit Dune: Part Two, with a spokesperson for the company stating, "We would not have gotten to this point without the extraordinary vision of Denis and the amazing work of his talented crew, the writers, our stellar cast, our partners at Warner Bros., and of course the fans! Here's to more Dune". Production work had occurred back-to-back with the first film, as Villeneuve and his wife Lapointe immediately took a flight to Budapest in order to begin pre-production work. A key point of negotiation prior to greenlighting the sequel was assuring that the sequel would have an exclusive window where it would only be shown theatrically, with Legendary and Warner Bros. agreeing to give Dune: Part Two a 45-day window before it would be available through other channels. Villeneuve said this theatrical exclusivity was a "non-negotiable condition", and that "the theatrical experience is at the very heart of the cinematic language for me". With Dune: Part Two being greenlit, Villeneuve said that his primary concern was to complete the filming as soon as possible, with the earliest he expected to start in the last quarter of 2022. He noted that production would be expedited by the work already done for the first film.