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Tag: Dune

  • ‘Dune’ Sequel Starts Production With First Set Photo

    ‘Dune’ Sequel Starts Production With First Set Photo

    It looks like it didn’t take too long for Denis Villeneuve to continue his sci-fi epic, Dune. After quite a successful run at the box office, the auteur has swiftly jumped on the chance to continue his storyline with hints in the past that he may even have a third planned. Dune: Part Two as the title implies is the second part adapting the iconic book by Frank Herberts. To celebrate the production start, the official Duen account shared an image from the set to celebrate the occasion.

    Cinematographer Greig Fraser is back to join Villeneuve to adapt the storyline. He’s recently given us the iconic The Batman and it’ll be exciting to once again see how they adapt the sand planet Arrakis while still offering some more stunning visuals. The plans are to adapt the third film entry based on the second novel Dune Messiah, but it’s unclear if they’d further explore more entires from the six-book entries.

    Villeneuve has quite the track record with his stunning work and more slower-paced adaptations. Blade Runner 2049 was a standout when it was released it’s quite interesting to see the director tackle a franchise with even an HBO Max spinoff by Diane Ademu-John. It’s unclear if it might tie into the events of the main series, but it’ll be curious to see what the future has in store for this franchise.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Dune: Part Two’ Faces Slight Delay, Eyeing November 2023 Release

    ‘Dune: Part Two’ Faces Slight Delay, Eyeing November 2023 Release

    Fans of the Dune franchise will have to wait slightly longer for the second installment of the film series. It has officially been announced today that Dune: Part Two will be moving to a new release date of November 17, 2023. This however is only a one-month shift as the highly anticipated sequel was originally scheduled to release on October 20, 2023. There is no official confirmation for the reason for the delay, but having that much more hypothetical time to work on any post-production visual effects can only serve to make Dune: Part Two that much better.

    The first Dune film of this new franchise released in 2021 covers predominantly the first half of the 1965 classic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. In it, the story of Paul Atreides (portrayed by Timothee Chalamet) is told as he navigates the sand planet of Arrakis, manages the socio-political landscape of the world around him both on-planet and in the surrounding universe, and comes to terms with being destined for great leadership as a messiah-type figure. Alongside Chalamet, the original film stars the likes of Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Jason Mamoa, Javier Bardem, and Zendaya.

    Director Denis Villeneuve is returning to helm the second part of this film series after directing the 2021 adaptation. In addition to the return of numerous cast members in the first part, the sequel is set to introduce Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV, and Lea Seydoux as Lady Margot.

    Source: Variety

  • Christopher Walken Joins Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Two’

    Christopher Walken Joins Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Two’

    Here’s a surprising addition, but it looks like Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune sequel has added Christopher Walken to its cast. He will take on the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. The adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s sci-fi classic has recently cast Florence Pugh and Austin Butler. the story will take place right where the first one left off with Timothy Chalamet‘s Paul Atreides stranded on the desert planet Arrakis, as he meets destiny and the Fremen that made this planet their home.

    Walken will act as the ruler of the known universe in the sequel, and is the reason for Atreides’s downfall. He takes on the role that Jose Ferrer played in the 1984 version by David Lynch. Pugh is playing his daughter, Princess Irulan. They will start production on the project in the summer in Budapest, Jon Spaihts also returned to help pen the script alongside Villeneuve, who is producing the film alongside Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, and Tanya Lapointe.

    The first film made quite a splash at the box office with $400.6M at the box office and managed to win six Oscars, it was also nominated for best picture. This is Walken‘s next major project after working on Apple TV+’s Severance which has a second season on the horizon. So, the actor is going to be quite a bit busy soon.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Johan Renck Boards ’Dune’ Prequel Series as Director

    Johan Renck Boards ’Dune’ Prequel Series as Director

    HBO Max’s Dune prequel series has set a director.

    Johan Renck will direct the first two episodes of the Duneprequel series. The news comes courtesy of Variety, with the outlet reporting Renck will also serve as an executive producer on the project. The current title of the series is Dune: The Sisterhood, although the title does not seem to be set in stone. Denis Villeneuve was previously attached to direct the pilot for the series, however, as he’s busy with the second Dune film, he’s had to step down.

    The events of Dune: The Sisterhood take place approximately 10,000 years prior to the events of Dune. It focuses on the Harkonnen sisters as they “combat forces that threaten the future of humankind and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.” Dune, of course, proved to be a massive success for Warner Bros. upon release last year. Despite being released day and date on HBO Max, the film went on to earn $400 million at the worldwide box office. 

    This is not Renck’s first time working with HBO. He previously worked on the critical darling, Chernobyl, where he directed the entire series and served as an executive producer. His work on that series earned him an Emmy in the Best Directing for a Limited Series category. Prior to Chernobyl, Renck also helmed episodes of The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Vikings. 

    Diane Ademu-John serves as the writer, showrunner and executive producer for Dune: The Sisterhood. As of now, no cast members have been announced.

    Source: Variety.

  • Denis Villeneuve Offers Update on ‘Dune: Part Two’

    Denis Villeneuve Offers Update on ‘Dune: Part Two’

    After making quite the splash at the box office, Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune has gone on to also become somewhat of an awards darling. Of course, many are quite focused on what the future has in store for the franchise. There have been hints that WarnerMedia is interested in expanding the franchise as its own cinematic universe, but most eyes are currently on Dune: Part Two, which will continue the story of Paul Atreides after being stranded in the dunes of Arrakis.

    In an interview with Collider, director Denis Villeneuve has confirmed that they’ve wrapped up work on the screenplay, while still highlighting that it consistently changes throughout the production. As such, they are currently preparing to start production already.

    The screenplay is finished mostly, but it’s always a work in progress. It’ll be a work in progress until final cut, but I will say it’s solidified. I have a script in my hands. We are in prep right now.

    Denis Villeneuve

    It makes sense that they’d fast-track the project as it’s supposed to release next year already. Villeneuve has hinted in the past that they’ve already prepared most of the work, and he kept it open to just jump back into this world and start production on the sequel. He is interested in tackling it as a trilogy with the second book becoming the third entry. Dune‘s original release was split up into two films due to just how much the story generally explores. So, it’ll be interesting to see how these films connect.

    Source: Collider

  • ‘Dune’ Co-Writer Investigating “Other Cinematic Prospects” for the Franchise’s Future

    ‘Dune’ Co-Writer Investigating “Other Cinematic Prospects” for the Franchise’s Future

    All eyes are currently on the second entry of Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune, as casting is finally underway to hit its 2023 release date. Yet, it seems WarnerMedia has some grand plans moving forward as Dune: Part Two co-writer Jon Spaihts has revealed that they are looking into expanding the galactic storyline with various spinoffs.

    So far, only one titled Dune: The Sisterhood is in development for HBO Max. Ironically, he was spearheading the project until he had to leave to focus on the sequel while Diane Ademu-John took over showrunning responsibilities. In an interview, he offered some details on the franchise’s future.

    “[The television show] is carrying on and I’m not allowed to talk about it very much. But that effort is alive and well. I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on ‘Dune: Part 2,’ but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the ‘Dune’ universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I’m not allowed to say very much about. But it is a very rich world in which to play, and I think it is ripe with opportunities for storytelling in every direction

    Jon Spaihts

    While most of the first film takes place on Arrakis, we do get a glimpse at a wider universe. Of course, the titular Dune is the main focus of the story and there are a variety of stories to tell in the past, present, and future of its timeline. It would seem natural that they’d explore the Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune after they wrapped up with Dune: Messiah.

    Especially the latter could offer a curious glimpse into a very different future that has some horror science fiction elements. Yet, it’s uncertain if they might turn these into spinoffs that are a bit more independent from a cinematic experience. For now, we can only theorize but there is enough here to explore a lot of different stories.

    Source: Playlist via Variety

  • ‘Elvis’ Austin Butler in Talks to Play Feyd-Rautha in ‘Dune: Part Two’

    ‘Elvis’ Austin Butler in Talks to Play Feyd-Rautha in ‘Dune: Part Two’

    Denis Villeneuve has been busy casting for his upcoming Dune sequel, as shortly after it was revealed that Florence Pugh has entered negotiations to join the project, they have now revealed that Elvis star Austin Butler is also in talks to take on the role of Feyd-Rautha. The film is eyeing a release on October 20th next year, and he doesn’t have much time until he needs to start production to continue the adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s iconic novel.

    The role Butler is tackling is the younger nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who is just as “cruel, treacherous, and cunning” as what you’d expect from a member of the royal Harkonnen bloodline. The actor made his career in Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood before nabbing the starring role in the Elvis Presley biopic.

    Quite a few actors have vocally shown their interest in joining the Dune franchise, which is a given with how unique it is when it comes to what a modern-day blockbuster film is like. Yet, there has been a growing concern regarding the casting decisions for the Dune franchise, as most of the cast doesn’t reflect the cultural inspiration for most of the book’s characters and cultures. We’ll see what the future has in store as we might expect a lot more casting in the near future.

    Source: Deadline

  • Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson has been vocally interested in his excitement to expand The Batman as a franchise. While he mainly talked about turning it into a trilogy, it seems that he’s gotten a taste for blockbuster releases with his recent work in them. In an interview with Variety, the actor has revealed that he’s also actively interested in appearing in a sequel for Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune.

    I love those “Apes” movies so much. There’s only been two movies — well, three now — where I wanted to do a sequel: the “Apes” movies, “Sicario” and “Dune.” I saw both of the “Apes” movies in the cinema and I just thought what he could do with mo-cap was just so unbelievable. If he could do that with a monkey’s face, then he can get a performance out of me as well.

    Robert Pattinson

    After the success of the first entry, Villeneuve‘s space opera and desert planet epic were fast-tracked for a sequel, as the director already mapped out the trilogy he wants to tell. After an interview with the director hit the web that he may already be eyeing to add Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen into the sequel. As such, he may be a potential role for Pattinson if they are already busy casting. We only have the confirmation that the original cast will return. So, we might get some hints later this year as they prepare for production.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Nominated for Visual Effects Oscar

    ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Nominated for Visual Effects Oscar

    The Oscar nominations have finally arrived and it looks like Marvel Studios once again remains a strong contender in the Visual Effects department, as Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings alongside Spider-Man: No Way Home was nominated. They join other projects like Dune, Free Guy, and No Time To Die in the category. Sadly, they once again did not receive any other nominations, while Denis Villeneuve’s latest film was quite the favorite at this year’s announcements including Visual Effects, Best Film, Film Editing, and more.

    Marvel tends to land mainly in this category, which is a shame as there are many talented people involved with these projects. Black Panther was the first Marvel Studios project to beat the odds and even land a nomination for Best Picture, but that was quite an uncommon occurrence. It’s great to see other projects like Free Guy also land a nomination, which had some stunning visual effects playing on classic video game tropes. At this point, it’s anyone’s game but Dune or No Time to Die seems like the more likely choice to get chosen by the committee. Until the event takes place, all bets are open and we’ll see if the Marvel Studios projects can nab an Oscar this year.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Dune’s Legendary Sells Minority Stake to Apollo

    ‘Dune’s Legendary Sells Minority Stake to Apollo

    Legendary Entertainment has seen a strong rebound during the pandemic, as their latest releases Dune, Enola Holmes, and Godzilla vs. Kong left a good impression, especially since the latter was the first to revive the box office during its March release. Yet, the company has been open to potentially sell or even merging with other companies back in July. It seems that they found a buyer, as Legendary has sold a minority stake of its company to the equity firm Apollo for $760M. However, no official statement has been made on how large that equity stake will be. CEO Josh Grode had the following to say on their sale:

    We didn’t need to do this now. We have a significant amount of cash on our balance sheet.” The influx of funding from Apollo “positions us for what we believe is the future, which is a lot of M&A opportunities.

    Josh Grode

    The company was first purchased back in 2016 by Wanda for $3.5 billion and went on to produce some strong box office franchises. Dune made quite a splash at the box office last year and they’ve made some strong deals with streamers to extend their IPs through other means, such as the recent announcement of an Apple TV+ series that explores the aftermath of 2014’s Godzilla. It seems they have also considered a full takeover, but decided against it. Besides its film offerings, Legendary also consists of a comic book, VR, licensing, and merchandising divisions.

    Source: Deadline