There are some new updates on the potential of a
Dune 2021 sequel from director Denis Villeneuve, including some details on what to expect from
the film, if this first entry does well enough to warrant one.
Denis Villeneuve discusses the sequel and talks about why Zendaya's Chani is going to
be the focus of a Dune 2 later down the line.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing the Dune sequel details, the director's comments
on the potential of it, alongside my own thoughts towards all of it too.
Before I get into it though, if you want to see much
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But without further ado, let's discuss the newest reveals for Dune Part 2.
So before we get to the details on Zendaya's Chani, Denis Villeneuve has expressed that
he is feeling confident that there will be a chance to direct “Dune Part 2,” which
isn't even being viewed as a sequel to his upcoming movie.
Denis spoke all the details to Total Film magazine this week, which I will be doing
a video on when the issue of the magazine is released in a few days.
He said to Total Film “that there’s no such thing as ‘Dune 1’ and ‘Dune 2.’
It’s ‘Dune: Part One' and ‘Dune: Part Two.'”
Villeneuve had only agreed to direct an adaptation of the novel for Warner Bros and Legendary
if they let him split the book into two parts.
The director is also now currently writing “Dune Part 2” and said it would take a
“Part 1” box office disaster for Part 2 not to be made.
Denis said that “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!.
The first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist,
and I think that I proved that as everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary are 100 percent
behind the project.
They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not warrant a
‘Dune: Part Two,’ because they love the first movie.
They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward and they still did
half of it.
So, I’m very optimistic.”
But as we know, deciding whether to set “Dune: Part Two” in stone will be difficult for
the public to consume.
Warner Bros is currently releasing the movie in theatres on the same day it becomes available
to stream for 31 days on HBO Max.
The streaming launch will surely hurt the film’s box office total, as we've seen with
other examples like The Suicide Squad more recently.
But Warner Bros will also be watching the box office as closely as it’s watching HBO
Max subscriber gains when “Dune: Part One” becomes available to stream.
Denis Villeneuve of course condemned the streaming decision and he still thinks that it’s nonsensical
to watch Dune in a non-theatre setting.
In the interview, he said, “First of all, the enemy
of cinema is the pandemic.
That’s the thing.
We understand that the cinema industry is under tremendous pressure right now.
That I get.
But the way [the HBO Max decision] happened, I’m still not happy.
Frankly, to watch ‘Dune’ on television, the best way I can compare it is to drive
a speedboat in your bathtub.
For me, it’s ridiculous.
It’s a movie that has been made as a tribute to the big-screen experience.”
And to be honest, I'm completely in agreeance with his
comments.
Like I said above, financially this model has already proven to be disastrous for movies
meant to be seen first theatrically.
Nolan and Villeneuve both warned that this would happen and now we've seen
it happen, with most of the examples being successful, acting as a film that has a theatrical
window.
And also morally, not telling your filmmakers that you are doing this has
resulted in them jumping ship to other studios.
So quite frankly, like Denis was alluding to, I'm really hoping that WB has
learned from the problems of this model and apply steps to make dune exclusively theatrically
during its initial release.
Giving it an exclusive window will allow it to gain as much as it can at the box office
and then streaming can help it out afterwards and will only thrive itself from that.
This isn't an elitist viewpoint as some have claimed.
It's the right way to go from a business standpoint and from an ethical one.
I guess we'll see, but it's great to see Denis stick up for film, cinema itself and
the moral incentives of all filmmakers and workers in this industry right now.
And hell, deservingly so.
But putting the HBO max and streaming thing aside, Denis Villeneuve also spoke more on
the ideas and focuses of Dune: Part Two.
He said that he’s now writing “Part 2” and is really excited to bring it to the big
screen.
In the separate interview with Italy’s La Repubblica, the director added about the next
movie, that he's "honoured to present two such explosive talents on screen, in Timothee
Chalamet's Paul Atreides and Zendaya's Chani, and that he can’t wait to shoot the second
part of ‘Dune’ to get them back together.
But alongside this, he says that he is filming them knowing that in the next chapter Zendaya
will be the protagonist of the story.
Chani is the daughter of Imperial Planetologist Liet-Kynes and a member of a nomadic Fremen
tribe on Arrakis and we know that by the end of the book she is instrumental in helping
Paul learn the ways of the Fremen and seize his destiny as an intergalactic revolutionary.
Villeneuve said, “When I did the casting for Chani’s character, I met a lot of actresses.
Zendaya wanted to audition and today, after shooting the film and seeing what a wonderful
actress she is, I’m sorry I auditioned her.
It was just because I didn’t know her.
However that day, she impressed me and when she left the studio I knew that Chani was
her, the young desert tiger.
So this will be interesting to see come to light if we get a second
movie, especially considering that Denis has said that the feminine voice of Dune is one
that is going to carry all the projects due to its importance.
I personally think that it's a great transitioning point between part
1 and part 2, having the first film be about Paul finding his place and uncovering the
power that the Fremen people hold, resulting in a part 2 that fully puts him
and them at the heart of the film.
And of course, Zendaya's Chani is a great part that is going to lead us towards that.
But they were all the latest details surrounding a potential sequel for Denis Villeneuve's
Dune.
It will be intriguing to see how the first film does this October, but I do
think that the HBO Max is going to hurt the film's overall performance.
I really hope that people do go and watch Dune the way it was meant to be seen, even
if that takes some time due to the pandemic and hopefully
the announcement of a sequel will be the indicator that Dune has done well enough to warrant
one.
Like I said in other recent videos, the data suggests that if Dune makes around $400 million
worldwide, that would be enough to set up a sequel because of a long term interest in
the franchise.
Reviews will also play a big part in these long term
analytics but based on what we have heard from early test screenings and festival news,
I think the quality of the film is something that has a higher success rate.
We will soon see, but I'm just hoping that the HBO Max release of the film won't hurt
it as much as it has for other releases in recent months.
But let me know down below in the comments section what you personally think about the
details and updates from Denis Villeneuve.
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I will be continuing to cover news and topics for DUNE whenever new information comes out
alongside episodes of my road to Dune series, which continues with a video essay on Denis
Villeneuve's Enemy next week, so look out for all of these uploads.
But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.