Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune. The story follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a young man of royal birth whose visions of a coming conflict over the planet Arrakis thrusts him into the middle of a war to ensure the future of his family and people.
The first book in Herbert’s series was published in 1965, and stands as one of the most popular sci-fi novels of all time. The entire Dune series spans six books, multiple planets, and thousands of years. That’s a lot of ground to cover. As such, Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film will adapt the first half of the first novel only, and will be broken into two feature films.As Dune fans ourselves here at Collider, we can’t wait to see our favorite elements from the novels play out on the big screen.
Dune is a dense work (people who have seen the movie say the upcoming film basically requires a sequel to complete its narrative), but this trailer is a smart move to try and condense the story’s biggest points within the span of a 2-minute-and-30-second trailer. For some, this may lean a bit into “spoiler territory” and there are definitely some deaths that are hinted at here, but if you still need to be sold on Dune, then maybe this trailer will give you the extra push you need.
Dune might have just had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but director Denis Villeneuve is already thinking about its sequel. In a recent roundtable discussion, the Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker expressed confidence in his plan to adapt the second half of Frank Herbert’s iconic space drama.
“When you make a movie in two parts,” explains the director, “when you do the first part you have to know what you’re going to do in the second part. So I will say that I will be very ready to go quite quickly.” This is far from surprising news given how expansive both the source material and Villeneuve’s adaptation of it is.
Chani Kynes is a member of the Fremen and daughter of Liet Kynes, the imperial ecologist and planetologist of Arrakis. Chani forms a close bond with the leader of the Fremen, Stilgar, who is played by Javier Bardem. Chani features prominently in the second half of the Dune novel, introducing Paul and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) to the ways of the Fremen. She stands out so vividly in the mind of Paul due to the prescient visions he often has, as she often appears to him in these. The prescient visions appear to be a major element of the film and do receive some attention in the first trailer released by Warner Bros.
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Some liberties are definitely being taken, with the character of Liet Kynes in particular being gender-swapped in the film. Liet will be played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and most expect her to be the mother of Chani in this adaptation. Dune is a massive work of science fiction, and these kinds of adjustments can often lead to greater success in film, obviously a vastly different medium from a novel. It does appear that a Dune sequel led by Zendaya will hinge on the success of the first offering, as reports have been made that a second part to adapt the rest of the first novel is expected.
Zendaya is more than capable of leading a second part of this series, as she is coming off an Emmy win for her work on HBO’s Euphoria. She also is set to return as MJ in Spider-Man: No Way Home later this year, and voiced Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy. As for Dune, aside from the ‘expected’ Dune 2, a series for HBO Max centered on the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, aptly titled Dune: The Sisterhood, is on the way.