“Dune 2” opens in cinemas at the end of February – the end of Paul Atreides’ story? Director Denis Villeneuve knows exactly when and how the film series should end.
Dune 2 (Source: Warner Bros. Pictures Germany)
Was “Dune” in fall 2021 just the beginning of a new, decades-spanning franchise that will soon be mentioned in the same breath as “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”? Of course, Frank Herbert’s novel saga about the desert planet Arrakis has been a fixture in the world of science fiction since the 1960s, but Denis Villeneuve’s film was of course a new start that excited a whole new generation about this story.
Without the security that comes with a long-standing franchise, “Dune” represented a costly risk for Warner Bros. In 2021, the film also opened under difficult conditions; due to the corona pandemic, not all film fans were ready to go to the cinema again to go. But the success of “Dune” justified a sequel and “Dune 2,” the film adaptation of the second half of the novel “The Desert Planet,” starts on February 29, 2024.
In total, Frank Herbert wrote 6 “Dune” novels, and his son Brian Herbert wrote numerous other books together with Kevin J. Anderson. So will the battle for Arrakis continue forever? Not if Denis Villeneuve has his way.
“Dune 3”, then it’s over! Dune 2 (Source: Warner Bros. Pictures Germany)
At the start of “Dune”, Villeneuve spoke of his desire to make a total of three films – two films cover the plot of “The Desert Planet” and the third film deals with the second book, “The Lord of the Desert Planet”.
It’s a sensible plan because in these two books the focus is on Paul Atreides. A complete, well-rounded story would be possible before the story of the books becomes, in Villeneuve’s own words, “too esoteric” to be successfully filmed. In a recent Time article, Villeneuve reiterated this decision: “‘The Lord of the Desert Planet’ will be my last ‘Dune’ film.” However, Villeneuve is of course only speaking for himself and not for Warner Bros.
Although a third “Dune” film has not yet been confirmed, Warner is first waiting for the box office results of “Dune 2”, but if three “Dune” films are successful enough, the studio could insist on a fourth film – then of course another director. Whether this is a good idea remains to be seen. If even a big “Dune” fan like Villeneuve considers the other “Dune” novels unfilmable, the material in less capable hands will hardly be able to follow Villeneuve’s “Dune” adaptations.
Dune Quiz: How well do you know your way around the desert planet Arrakis?
(Source: tmdb.org)
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