So far, 2021 has been a much better year for films than 2020. All of the top ten highest grossing movies domestically have crossed $100 million at the box office. Dune just became the latest motion picture to join that list. The sci-fi film made $100 million at the domestic box office this week. Warner Bros., which produced and distributed the project, has to be feeling good about the success. After a strong opening weekend, the studio greenlit a sequel for Dune.
Director Denis Villeneuve should be proud of the new milestone, as his latest project is now one of his most successful financially. Many might be surprised at the numbers, considering multiple readers of the book have considered an adaptation to be possible. Most critics and fans seem to be impressed with the mostly positive audience and critical reception. The large domestic numbers show that a mix of readers and non-readers alike saw the movie.
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Villeneuve spoke to TotalFilm in an interview about the potential for a sequel, where he said, “We have been hearing in the past few decades that it’s not possible to adapt this book, and that it’s an impossible task. I think that in the back of the mind of the studio, it’s still the same! So the first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that - everybody at Warner Bros. and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project. They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a Dune: Part Two, because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, I’m very optimistic.”
The director then discussed his gratefulness for his work when he said, “I’m writing [Part Two] right now, and I feel like I’m eight years old again. That’s very uncommon for me. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it where I’m watching one of my movies, and I have a moment of deep gratitude, of deep joy, and I say, ‘Thank you life, for having allowed me to bring that to the big screen.’ [laughs] I don’t know how other people will feel about it. But me? Denis Villeneuve when he was 14 years old. Thank you.”
Warner Bros. unveiled a description of Dune that read, “A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence - a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s great potential - only those who can conquer their fear will survive.”
Dune: Part Two is expected to be released in October 2023 with filming slated to begin next summer. While it will not be announced for quite a while, there is a possibility of a third film in the series to come out in the future.
