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'Dune' director Denis Villeneuve is 'optimistic' that there will be a 'Part Two'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 9/13/21

Denis Villeneuve believed so staunchly that there will be two Dune films that he only signed on to direct after Warner Bros. and Legendary agree to let him split his feature film adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel by the same name into two parts (h/t IndieWire), and then he intended to shoot both films at the same time.

"I wanted at the beginning to do the two parts simultaneously," Villeneuve told Variety. "For several reasons, it didn't happen, and I agreed to the challenge of making part one and then wait to see if the movie rings enough enthusiasm."

"As I was doing the the first part, I really put all my passion into it, in case it would be the only one," the 53-year-old one-time Oscar nominee continued. "But I'm optimistic."

Dune is set in fictional world Arrakis and follows Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), "a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people," as the official synopsis reads. "As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive."

The highly anticipated sci-fi adventure drama also stars the likes of Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya.

Dune recently received a six-minute ovation at the Venice Film Festival, where Chalamet teased to Deadline what could be expected in a second film: "Chani [Zendaya] will play a huge role in the next film. I don’t know if there’s a script yet, but just based on the book, along with Lady Jessica [Rebecca Ferguson], they have a lot to do together, let’s put it like that."

Villeneuve is already directing HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood, which received a straight-to-series order in June 2019, the prequel to his Dune films.

"If such a thing as Dune: Part Two happens, I will say that it's going to be an insane playground for me," Villeneuve added to Variety. "It’s going to be just like pure cinematic pleasure for the second part. I don’t want to speak for everybody on the team, but I will say that we really created on this movie a feeling of family and to re-unify everybody again together, that would be paradise."

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