A sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Paul Atreides, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet, and his fight for survival after his family relocates to the desert planet Arrakis. Villeneuve’s screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s beloved 1965 novel has already enjoyed a successful theatrical release across most international markets. A sequel to Dune hasn’t yet been publicly confirmed, and may depend on the second phase of its box-office and streaming performance when it releases in the US, UK, and China later this week.
Villeneuve’s film covers less than half of Herbert’s source material, as the director was only willing to execute his vision if the adaptation could be split over multiple installments. He offered to film Dune and its sequel back-to-back, as Peter Jackson did on The Lord of the Rings, but the studio declined, leaving Dune: Part Two very dependent on the success of Part One. Villeneuve’s films have almost always achieved critical praise and Dune is no exception, but, as with Blade Runner 2049, they have occasionally failed to match that at the box office. Therefore, though the film has so far been commercially successful, fans will be eagerly following the film's US opening for any news of a sequel being greenlit.
Now, in an interview with Deadline, Sarnoff has indicated that a follow-up is more than likely, though she stopped short of confirming it outright. When asked what lower-than-projected box-office results would mean for the likelihood of the sequel, the WB CEO responds by alluding to Dune: Part One's inconclusive ending. That, she says, is the only real evidence required:
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.
Villeneuve’s Dune ends with the majority of Herbert’s story yet to be told, and he himself has already stated that a Dune sequel is likely, but has always stopped short of any official confirmation. While executives are clearly confident in the project, its significant budget requires a certain level of return to justify any future investment, making the studio hesitant to announce a second film before seeing how the first one plays. If Dune’s opening weekend is in line with current projections, it would become one of cinema’s most commercially successful films since the pandemic first impacted blockbuster releases.
Fans should be thrilled with Sarnoff's confidence in Dune, and with a sequel inching ever closer to being officially greenlit, anticipation should start to build for Villeneuve's follow-up. Major characters have yet to be introduced by the first film's conclusion, and fans will no doubt have plenty of predictions for Dune: Part Two's new cast . For now, though, audiences will have to enjoy Dune for what it is, and save any hand-wringing over a sequel for the moment the credits roll.
Source: Deadline
