Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. Serving as a direct sequel to the 2021 film, it is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and follows Paul Atreides as he unites with the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen. Returning cast members from the first film include Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem reprise their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux joining the ensemble cast.

Development began after Legendary Entertainment acquired film and TV rights for Dune in 2016. Villeneuve signed on as director for the film in 2017, with the intention of making a two-part adaptation of the novel. Production contracts were only secured for a first film, with the second film having to be green-lit based on the first's success. Though Villeneuve was concerned about the sequel's certainty after the first film had a simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release, Warner Bros. assured him the sequel would happen if it performed well on HBO Max. After the critical and commercial success of the first film, Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment green-lit the film in October 2021. New cast members including Pugh, Butler, Walken, Seydoux, and Yacoub were announced in 2022, followed by Nelson a year later. Principal photography took place in Budapest, Italy, and Abu Dhabi between July and December 2022.

Dune: Part Two was originally scheduled for a late-2023 release but was delayed due to the Hollywood labor disputes. The film had its world premiere at the Leicester Square in London on February 15, 2024, and was released in the United States on March 1. It received acclaim from critics and audiences, some of whom praised it as one of the greatest modern science fiction films, and has grossed $506.5 million worldwide against its $190 million production budget, making it currently the highest-grossing film of 2024.

Plot[]

Following the destruction of House Atreides by House Harkonnen, Princess Irulan Corrino, the daughter of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, secretly journals that Paul Atreides may be alive. On Arrakis, Stilgar's Fremen troops, including Paul and his pregnant mother Lady Jessica, overcome a Harkonnen patrol. When Jessica and Paul reach 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.

Stilgar tells Jessica that Sietch Tabr's Reverend Mother is dying and that she must replace her by drinking the Water of Life — a fatal poison for males and the untrained. Jessica transmutes the poison, surviving and inheriting the memories of every female ancestor in her lineage. The liquid also 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. Jessica urges Paul to also drink the water of Life and become the Kwisatz Haderach. Chani and her friend Shishakli believe the prophecy was fabricatedto manipulate the Fremen. However, she begins to respect Paul after he declares that he only intends to fight alongside the Fremen, not to rule them.

Paul and Chani fall in love as Paul embraces the Fremen ways: learning their language, taking part in rites such as riding a sandworm, becoming a Fedaykin fighter, and helping raid Harkonnen spice operations. Paul adopts the Fremen names "Usul" and "Muad'Dib." Due to the devastating spice raids, Baron Harkonnen replaces his nephew Rabban as Arrakis's ruler with his psychotic younger nephew and heir apparent Feyd-Rautha. Lady Margot Fenring, a Bene Gesserit, is sent to evaluate Feyd-Rautha as a prospective Kwisatz Haderach and to seduce him to secure his genetic lineage.

Jessica travels south to unite with Fremen fundamentalists who believe in the prophecy. Paul stays north, fearful that his visions of a holy war will come true if he goes south as a messiah. He reunites with Gurney Halleck who leads him to House Atreides' hidden atomic stockpile. Feyd-Rautha attacks Sietch Tabr, forcing Paul and other surviving Fremen to journey south; Shishakli remains and Feyd-Rautha kills her. Upon arrival, Paul drinks the Water of Life and falls into a coma. Chani is angered by this but is forced by Jessica to revive him by mixing Chani's tears with the liquid. Paul attains a clearer vision of the past, present, and future, seeing an adult Alia on a water-filled Arrakis and discovering Jessica is the Baron's daughter, making Paul both an Atreides and a Harkonnen.

The southern Fremen leaders urge Paul to challenge Stilgar for leadership, but he refuses and instead galvanizes the fundamentalists by showing that he can read their innermost thoughts. He declares himself the Lisan al Gaib and sends a challenge to Emperor Shaddam. Gaius Helen Mohiam tells Irulan that she advised the Emperor to annihilate House Atreides as they had grown too defiant. Shaddam arrives on Arrakis with Irulan, Mohiam, and his Sardaukartroops. As he meets the Harkonnens, the Fremen launch a massive military strike using atomics and sandworms. They overpower the Sardaukar, while Paul kills the Baron and takes Shaddam and his entourage captive. Gurney intercepts and kills a fleeing Rabban.

To Chani's dismay, Paul challenges Shaddam for the throne, demanding Irulan's hand in marriage. Shaddam admits his involvement in House Atreides' destruction. Previously summoned by the Baron, the Great Houses arrive in orbit. Paul threatens to destroy the spice fields with atomics if they intervene. Shaddam chooses Feyd-Rautha as his champion, and Paul kills him in a knife duel. Irulan agrees to Paul's request for marriage on the condition that her father lives. Shaddam kneels and kisses Paul's signet ring. The Great Houses above Arrakis reject Paul's ascendancy, so Paul orders the Fremen to attack the orbiting fleet. As Stilgar leads the Fremen onto the captured Sardaukar ships, Jessica and Alia see this as the beginning of Muad'Dib's holy war. Chani refuses to bow to Paul and departs alone on a sandworm.

Cast[]

• Timothée Chalamet as Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides, the exiled Duke of House Atreides who sides with the Fremen to overthrow the tyrannical House Harkonnen.
• Zendaya as Chani, a young and rebellious Fremen warrior who is Paul's love interest.
• Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Paul's Bene Gesserit mother and concubine to Paul's late father and predecessor, Leto Atreides.
• Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, the former military leader of House Atreides and Paul's mentor.
• Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's youngest nephew and heir ("na-Baron") to House Harkonnen.
• Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan Corrino, the Emperor's daughter.
• Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and older brother of Feyd-Rautha.
• Christopher Walken as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe and head of House Corrino.
• Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring, a Bene Gesserit and close friend of the Emperor.
• Souheila Yacoub as Shishakli, a Fremen warrior and Chani's friend.
• Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, head of House Harkonnen, Feyd-Rautha's and Glossu Rabban's uncle, sworn enemy to the Atreides, and former steward of Arrakis.
• Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother and the Emperor's Truthsayer.
• Javier Bardem as Stilgar, leader of the Fremen tribe at Sietch Tabr.

Additionally, Anya Taylor-Joy 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.

Marketing[]

A teaser trailer for Dune: Part Two was presented during the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon on April 27, 2023. First-look footage of the cast in-character were released online, alongside a teaser poster, on May 2, 2023. The trailer was released to the public the following day. Variety called it "breathtaking"; GQ hailed the shots of Paul riding a sandworm as "the standout sequence"; and Fangoria remarked "If you're not excited for this one, we dunno what to tell you". Chalamet and Zendaya later discussed and promoted the film at a Warner Bros. presentation at CineEurope on June 21.

A second trailer was released on June 29, 2023. Chris Evangelista of Film was excited about the appearance of Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV. Ben Travis of Empire praised the "seismic" and "astounding, none-more-eye-boggling" imagery, feeling the scope to be "particularly expansive" and noted the monochromatic footage depicting Austin Butler's Feyd-Rautha while calling the footage of Christopher Walken's appearance "impactful". Joshua Rivera of Polygon opined "The trailer, simply put, rocks" and enjoyed the footage present.

The film was promoted during the December 2023 CCXP with Chalamet, Zendaya, Pugh, Butler, and Villeneuve, where over 10 minutes of footage was released. Additional footage from Dune: Part Two was shown during a limited IMAX theatrical re-release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet (2020), as part of Warner Bros.' celebration for the former film's release.

In January 2024, images of a forthcoming Dune-themed popcorn bucket from AMC Theatres went viral and became an Internet meme due to comparisons of its sandworm design to an artificial vagina. Saturday Night Live featured a musical sketch with Marcello Hernandez, Ayo Edebiri, Devon Walker, and Bowen Yang parodying the phenomenon.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures partnered with Xbox to provide an immersive content suite related to the film, and visual designs inspired by the film being featured on a floating controller, Xbox Series X, and a console holder. Microsoft Flight Simulator also included an expansion pack allowing players to explore Arrakis and pilot the Royal Atreides Ornithopter. In November 2023, the Sardaukar were added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) in a collaboration pack. A month later, Paul and Feyd-Rautha were added as playable operators to its sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023), with an additional Harkonnen soldier skin being announced in March 2024. In September 2023, McFarlane Toys announced a new line of 7-inch figures modeled after characters from the sequel film. Legendary Comics will release Dune: Part Two - The Official Movie Graphic Novel with the help of Kickstarter in the same way the previous adaptation was published.

Release[]

Dune: Part Two was originally scheduled to be released on October 20, 2023, but was delayed to November 17, 2023, before moving forward two weeks to November 3, 2023, to adjust to changes in release schedules from other studios. It was later postponed by over four months to March 15, 2024, due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. After the strikes were resolved, the film moved once more up two weeks to March 1, 2024.

Following the success of Oppenheimer (2023) in the format (in which Pugh also appeared), Dune: Part Two was released in the IMAX 15-perforation 70 mm format to twelve venues worldwide, and in standard 5-perforation 70mm format to 38 venues worldwide.

A red carpet event was hosted in the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on February 6, 2024. Dune: Part Two's world premiere was held at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on February 15.

On January 16, 2024, the film was shown to a dying man in a palliative care home in the Canadian city of Saguenay, in Denis Villeneuve's native province of Quebec. The man had expressed a wish to see Dune: Part Two before his death. Josée Gagnon, the cofounder of a company aiming to accompany people at the end of life, relayed his wish to Villeneuve and Tanya Lapointe, his partner and one of the film's producers, through a viral call-out on Facebook. According to Gagnon, Villeneuve and Lapointe "were very touched. They were saying that this is why they make cinema. For the guy who wants to see a film before he dies. It's like a consecration". The pair initially offered to invite the man to see Dune: Part Two in Los Angeles or Montreal, but since he was too weak to travel, Villeneuve eventually decided to send one of his assistants directly to Saguenay with his private laptop. The film was screened in a room of the care facility, where everyone was required to hand in their cellphones and sign waivers. The man was in too much pain, however, to watch it entirely and had to stop halfway through. The man eventually passed away on January 25. The incident, which CBC referred to as the actual "world premiere" of the film, was publicly disclosed after its theatrical release.

Box office[]

As of March 18, 2024, Dune: Part Two has grossed $207.5 million in the United States and Canada and $299 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $506.5 million. The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film needed to gross around $500 million in order to break-even.

In the United States and Canada, the film's advanced ticket sales surpassed those of Oppenheimer, and it was projected to gross $65–80 million from 4,050 theaters in its opening weekend. It was also expected to gross $85–90 million from 71 international markets, for a worldwide debut of around $170 million. The film made $32.2 million on its first day, including $12 million from previews on February 25 and 29; IMAX screenings made up $4.5 million (38%) of the early totals. It went on to debut to $82.5 million, doubling the first film's $41 million opening weekend; IMAX screenings made up $18.5 million (23%) of the total, a record for a March release. According to Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros., it was "much higher than any of us could predict," especially for "a genre that is a hard nut to crack." The film also made $100.02 million from 72 international markets in its opening weekend, bringing its worldwide three-day debut to $182.5 million. In its second weekend the film made $46 million (a 44% drop), finishing second behind newcomer Kung Fu Panda 4. It also surpassed the entire domestic gross of the first film ($108 million) in just seven days. The film made $28.5 million in its third weekend, remaining in second.

Critical reception[]

Dune: Part Two received acclaim from critics, and was praised for its visual effects and cast performances. Some reviews considered it one of the best modern science fiction films. On Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 400 critics' aggregated reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Visually thrilling and narratively epic, Dune: Part Two continues Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the beloved sci-fi series in spectacular form." Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 79 out of 100, based on 62 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 94% overall positive score, with 80% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Future[]

Villeneuve has repeatedly expressed interest in making a third film based on Dune Messiah, the second novel in the series, adding that the possibility for the film depended on the success of Dune: Part Two. Spaihts also reiterated in March 2022 that Villeneuve had plans for a third film as well as the television spin-off series Dune: Prophecy. In August 2023, Villeneuve said the third film would serve as the conclusion of a trilogy. Villeneuve began developing a script for the third film in 2023. In February 2024, Villeneuve said the script was "almost finished" but also said he "[does not] want to rush it", citing Hollywood's tendency of focusing on release dates over a film's overall quality, and adding, "I want to make sure that if we go back there a third time that it'll be worth it, and that it would make something even better than Part Two". Villeneuve also considered waiting a few years for the lead actor to grow older, given that Dune Messiah is set 12 years after the events of the original book.

Ahead of Dune: Part Two's release, Zimmer revealed he was already writing music for a third film after Villeneuve came in and "wordlessly" put Dune Messiah on his desk.