SPICE WORLD
A sequel in good sands…
DUNE: PART TWO
DIRECTOR DENIS VILLENEUVE STARRING
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, FLORENCE PUGH,
AUSTIN BUTLER, REBECCA FERGUSON,
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD ETA 3 NOVEMBER
If there was a problem with Denis Villeneuve’s stellar adaptation of Dune, it’s that the 2021 film was only half the story. The concluding instalment arrives in November as Dune: Part Two, and will add ample spice to 2023’s sci-fi movie to beat.
As Oscar Isaac’s dearly departed Duke Leto might have said, ‘desert power’ will be on full display in Part Two, with Timotheé Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica now embraced by fearsome desertdwellers the Fremen. Expect Javier Bardem’s man-of-few-words Stilgar and Zendaya’s (literal) dream girl Chani to feature far more prominently, while Paul reluctantly embraces his destiny as prophetic super-being, the Kwisatz Haderach.
Joining the already stacked cast are Florence Pugh as the duplicitous Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken as Irulan’s ruthless father, Austin Butler as deadly Harkonnen fighter Feyd-Rautha, and Léa Seydoux as shrewd Bene Gesserit sister Lady Margot. “Epic. Truly, truly epic,” is how Pugh describes the experience of shooting Part Two, and she’s similarly enthusiastic about collaborating with Villeneuve. “Every single person wanted to tell me how amazing it is to work with Denis. And I completely agreed. It was truly, truly a mega, epic experience.
And I felt so lucky to be a part of it.”
Butler also singles out the Blade Runner 2049 director as a highlight of his time on Arrakis. “I’ve been very lucky to go from Baz [Luhrmann on Elvis] to Denis,” Butler says with a smile. “He’s really a genius, watching him work.
His vision is so spectacular.”
Spectacle is the least you’d expect from Dune’s second chapter, not least because the gargantuan sandworms will play a major role in Part Two.
“The relationship between the Fremen and the worm deeply moves me – the reverence, the deep, deep respect, and, at the same time, spirituality that is linked with that beast,” a typically passionate Villeneuve told TF
last year. “That balance between the Fremen culture and the ecology… is at the very centre of Part Two.” The future of Arrakis is in safe hands.