Dune Part 1 is now officially a huge global success, with the film on track to end its run
earning around $400 million dollars worldwide and it has been received with glowing
responses from audiences and critics. This week it has been nominated by multiple award bodies,
even winning best film and director at the sunset circle awards, so its Oscar hopes
are really high too. What we are looking at, if the future instalments continue this trend,
is a set of films that could replicate what we saw with Lord Of The Rings, which was able
to satisfy many people across the board and get better and deeper as it went along. Dune Part 1
introduced us to its world, giving us an intriguing story to follow and the character
of Paul Atreides, who is on a path of change within the rising conflict that was
so brilliantly set up. And it also gave us superb filmmaking, that has only stemmed from a growth in
Villeneuve's other science fiction work, pointing to things only getting stronger with more films.
So through success, the material and the potential of both of these with a
Part 2, there's nothing but the flowing of excitement and spice waiting for us over the
next few years. In this video, I'm going to be discussing why I personally believe that Dune
Part 2 has been set up to be a game-changer for science fiction filmmaking and modern blockbusters
as a whole. Before I get into it though, if you want to keep up to date on any of my
content surrounding the Dune Part 1, Part 2 and beyond, then don't forget to
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Instagram at cortex videos, which is all linked in the description below. But without further ado,
let's dive into the reasons why Dune Part 2 can change modern movies forever.
Throughout the decades there have been staple films and trilogies that change the direction
of big-budget filmmaking or inspire it to take new paths. The original Star Wars trilogy,
The Lord Of The Rings, The Dark Knight Trilogy are just a few to mention off the top of my head,
but over the last decade, we haven't seen a franchise reach those levels of quality
that to us cinephiles has been quite frustrating to see with the direction that modern blockbusters
have gone in. It's become more of an excess and the studios throw as much product
at the screen as possible. Sure there are gems here and films that are remembered as a piece
of art, but the examples I mentioned before just excel quality of the highest level and
did things that many others have tried to replicate. They take famous characters,
build them in a unique way and really challenge them to their cores, within the world they situate
in. Dune is a book that many thought was impossible to bring successfully to the silver
screen, but one which proposed a story and world that if done right, cinema could be a perfect
tool for adapting the famous words by Frank Herbert. Denis Villeneuve saw that from an
early age with images coming to his mind, making it a dream to bring this novel to the big
screen in a very cinematic way that would give us the type of filmmaking we'd all missed.
A film gigantic in scale, themes and storytelling, that it would take multiple films, maybe
even a trilogy to bring it successfully to realisation. And the day came that Dune finally
released and here we are just over a month later talking about how great the film is and
the success it has had thus far. It's become one of the biggest movie events of the year
and despite worries over the film's release in theatres and on HBO max, the science fiction
adaptation exceeded expectations, and now all of us fans can’t wait for the next step
in Denis Villeneuve’s ever-developing franchise. Dune Part 2 is now officially in pre-production,
a script finalised, and we can all prepare for a film that Villeneuve suggests will be even better,
adapting all the elements that fans of the book want to see come to life. Denis
has stated that "Part Two will be such a cinematic treat" for him and the audience.
Making Part One was setting the table, and Part Two will be the full course meal. He's given us
the setup through the cultures and the background of all the planets and civilizations
and now in his words, "Part Two will be just an amazing playground, It will be so fun to do".
Now you know that I think Dune Part One is a great film that really stands on its own
as a moment of character adaptation when it comes to Paul Atreides. It's a film about Paul
adapting to the deep desert and in the process of finding the fremen, he starts to become
Paul Muadib. Yes it is set up for Part Two just like Fellowship Of The Ring was for the Lord
Of The Rings, but it also was a singular film telling the first part of a huge story
with so much events to fit into an adaptation. It was impressive in its own right, but we of
course are just touching on the deeper story that's to come in the follow-up. Without giving
away too much for those who haven't read the book, Paul is on a path to achieve his
destiny as the messianic Kwisatz Haderach and take vengeance against the brutal Harkonnens
following the devastation of House Atreides. Part One was a starter that had the emotional,
physical, and mental impact that an individual film should without feeling like only setup. It
introduced the factions and mysteries that will be explored and fully realised in Part
Two. There are incredible possibilities with the cultures and planets we got in the first film,
showing us that Paul Atreides’ journey is just starting, a point stressed on by the end
of the first film. The journey was never complete in A New Hope or Fellowship Of The ring,
it was built upon and gave us reveals, more context and deeper exploration into the world
and characters. After Part One, Denis Villeneuve can now really dig deep into making something
even greater with the foundations in place after the first film, and that is very
exciting to think about, especially if you know where this story is going. There's so much to
adapt from the genius that Herbert introduced in his books, and with this new adaptation
potentially being a trilogy in the words of the director, just imagine how much further
he could take it. But what we can also expect is an extreme attention to detail through the
ever-convincing filmmaking that Villeneuve puts on display film after film. I trust
Denis because time and time again he has brought intriguing stories and unadaptable sci-fi projects
to the screen, in a way that not only honours them but makes them his own take on it.
I know for many it will be the opposite, but I personally got into Dune through the filmmaker
and after loving his previous work it made me want to pick up the book and get into what his
next adaptation would be. I'm so happy that I did because now I'm a massive fan of Dune
and want more big-budget films like it. He has a great taste for picking projects that
you can of course bring to life successfully but also ones that fit well with his filmmaking
style, allowing for a development of his skills in bringing large scope takes on projects
that call for it. Dune is in touch with the cinematic experience, one that calls for a
sublime presentation of the visual, sound and the storytelling through that. Part One pulls
this off brilliantly and I've talked plenty about this very point in many other videos,
but Part Two will have the chance to expand, to deliver on expectations and to give us another
classic sequel in the vein of Return of the King or The Empire Strikes Back.
The world and the characters have been introduced, the ideals have been set,
the filmmaking is strikingly bold and more artsy and now all of that can be
played with by Villeneuve through the structure he has so fittingly layed out.
But coming to some of the elements we will see, if you've read the book or paid notice
to some of the many teases in the first part, Emperor Shaddam IV is going to be a major
character come Part 2. He played a pretty huge part in setting up House Atreides for
their sudden betrayal and this will vitally set up the revenge that our main character Paul will
be carrying out. Leading into Part 2, we are going to see Paul learning the ways of the culture
he has been accepted into and aligning with them to take action against the emperor in
charge. Then there’s Princess Irulan, the Emperor's daughter, who is not just going to
play a big part in Part Two but also a potential third film which Villeneuve has teased that he
wants to make, based on the second novel, Dune Messiah. And coming to the other main threat,
this involves the Harkonnens, and as we know they were briefly introduced in the first
film. But we haven’t yet come in contact with the classic character Feyd-Rautha,
the Baron’s nephew who was previously portrayed by Sting in David Lynch’s 1984 film. For Dune 2021,
Denis decided not to include him with the plan of introducing the character in Part Two,
because of it being a more appropriate decision from a storytelling perspective. There are other
elements like this which needed to be moved such as the continuation of Thufir Hawat's character,
because getting the audience into the world and motivated by it, there needed to be a
focus on Paul and the extreme loss that he and his house faces at the hands of the Harkonnens.
The second part will now have the freedom to go into these aspects more deeply because
they fit in line with the greater vengeance that has been built and also, there's just a lot more
time to do them the justice they deserve. Rabban basically fit the role of Feyd in
the first film anyway, but it really will be exciting to see the real thing come Part 2
and also who plays this character. And not to mention all the characters I have listed. The big
names that were cast and the performances delivered in part one only get us imaging
who could fill new shoes come 2023. And I can't end this segment without mentioning the crucial
scenes that are most likely going to be classics in modern science fiction. Again,
without giving too many spoilers away, the ones that come to mind are the water of life scene,
giving us the development of Paul and his visions and also the heightened scale of
battles and sandworm riding, which we saw glimpses of in Part One. This plus all the reveals from
pinnacle characters is just going to be a delight to see come to life, and while there are so many
ways that this can go wrong, it's key to note that Villeneuve has already overcome
the tougher obstacles, whether it be through world-building or merging the art film with
the blockbuster, attracting audiences globally with the dense material he's adapting. With
that set in stone, it takes a weight off his shoulder and the people working on the film,
allowing for them to bring the end of Dune to the screen in the most epic fashion possible.
And while I mention this merging of the blockbuster and the art film, this is what
was so great about elements in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Lord Of The Rings and the many classics
that transcended genres. Dune Part One broke major rules of the blockbuster in that there
is barely any romantic interest and that the doom of the protagonists in House Atreides
continues as we move from traps to chases, with Paul and his mother struggling to survive. Even
when Paul manages to triumph in the film, defeating a fremen member, Jamis, in a
knife fight, it isn't joyous at all. It's incredible that audiences today saw a film like
Dune, which is tragic, brutally serious for blockbuster sci-fi and are clammering back for
Part Two. Maybe it's because they want more films like this. The blockbuster that isn't
afraid to take things and present them through grand and unique filmmaking in a different way
from the norm. It shows audiences can be more open to complex characters who could transition
from good to bad, or change over a period of time. This is great for the filmmaker going
forward and it's only going to get darker and crazier as we get the next instalment.
For me, it's a new staple of franchise for today, an alternative saga to the very cliche ones
filling the market, and I think we need more of it going forward. Clearly, audiences want
more too and based on everything set up and coming in Part Two, I'm very confident we'll be
looking at another science fiction film for the ages.
But that was my video discussing why Dune: Part Two has the potential to be a game-changing film.
With lots of insane story beats, characters and lore to explore in the second part of
Frank Herbert's novel, alongside the urge from Denis Villeneuve and his team to raise the bar
in science fiction filmmaking on a repeating basis, Dune Part 2 is the kind of film that
has been set up to be huge within the blockbuster landscape. The second film will only grow on the
numbers attained by Part 1, releasing in a theatrical only environment, which will
only benefit the franchise going forward. Part 2 will have the word of mouth from the first film
with awards and hugely positive responses going for it too, so the Dune saga will only
be a rising success with more instalments, as long as it doesn't drop the ball in quality. But the
current track record of Denis Villeneuve and the people he works with speaks for
itself and right now we can only expect another great film that pushes the boundaries of what
is possible in science fiction filmmaking. We'll have to see but I think all of these
elements combined make Dune Part Two a film that is set up to be a groundbreaking one
if it's all delivered on. Of course, anything can happen and Villeneuve needs to pull off a lot
to end the films strongly, but he's already overcome the hardest task of adapting the
world of Arrakis for modern audiences today and making it a success story. Let's hope that
continues with Part 2 and beyond, giving us a franchise that will be talked about long
into the future. But let me know down below in the comments section what you are personally
excited for surrounding Dune Part 2
alongside whether you are hopeful that the film could be a game-changing one come its release.
For much more videos and news on Denis Villeneuve's Dune universe, then subscribe
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But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.