Dune 2: Director Denis Villeneuve Is Already Writing the Sequel

August 18, 2021

In a recent interview with Total Film, Dune director Denis Villeneuve has opened up about his hopes for the potential sequel to Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary’s newest film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel. Even though the project still hasn’t received a formal order from the studios, the acclaimed filmmaker confirmed that he has already started writing the screenplay for the sequel, which he would call Dune: Part Two.

“I’m writing [Part Two] now, and I feel like I’m eight years old again,” Villeneuve said. “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 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.”

Villeneuve also went on to express how both studios love and feel proud about the outcome of the highly-anticipated film, which is why he’s very optimistic that the potential sequel would eventually get greenlit.

“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,” He continued. “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.”

Based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune is directed and executive produced by Villeneuve from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth. It is produced by Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo Jr., and Mary Parent. Oscar-winning and multiple Oscar-nominated composer Hans Zimmer (Blade Runner 2049) is creating the score.