Dune director and stars to lead sequel’s regional premiere on Abu Dhabi red carpet
Abu Dhabi is hosting the Middle Eastern premiere of Dune: Part Two. Director Denis Villeneuve will join stars Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista at the red carpet event on Sunday.
“Hosting the Middle East premiere of Dune: Part Two is an honour for Abu Dhabi and is also a reflection of the position the emirate holds as one of Mena’s top film and TV locations,” said Mohamed Dobay, Creative Media Authority’s acting director general.
“We are proud to have supported an incredibly successful filming franchise once again. The fact that producers and directors seek to return to Abu Dhabi demonstrates how we have everything filmmakers need to facilitate and contribute to award-winning global productions.”
The premiere will take place at Vox Cinemas at The Galleria Al Maryah Island.
Major scenes for the sequel were shot in the UAE capital in 2022, with the film’s star Timothee Chalamet sharing pictures from the Empty Quarter after it concluded.
The cast and crew stayed at the luxury desert resort Anantara Qasr Al Sarab. Parts of Dune: Part Two were also filmed in Jordan, as well as Budapest and Italy.
Sam Kozhaya of Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind the Dune films, spoke with Hans Fraikin, a former film and TV commissioner at Abu Dhabi Film Commission, during the city’s Culture Summit in 2022. There, he revealed the integral role the city played in the first blockbuster’s creation.
“Abu Dhabi was an essential partner for us in the success of Dune,” Kozhaya said at the time. “They were a key contributor in the success and the 10 Oscar nominations, the six Oscar wins.”
The Dune film franchise is based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert and follows the young nobleman Atreides and his family as they are thrust into violence and political warfare over the inhospitable planet Arrakis.
The first film ended on a cliffhanger with the story’s resolution set to conclude in the second.
The film’s A-list stars include Chalamet in the lead, alongside Brolin, Bautista, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling and Stephen McKinley Henderson.
New additions include Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Souheila Yacoub and Lea Seydoux.
Director Denis Villeneuve will join stars Josh Brolin and Dave Bautista at the event on Sunday
Dune: Part Two will be in UAE cinemas from February 29