Cast Of Dune 2

[Garland Flugum]

Dunetitled onscreen as Dune: Part One) is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. Set in the distant future, the film follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust into a war for the deadly and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. The ensemble cast includes Timothe Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgrd, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.

The film is the third adaptation of Dune, following David Lynch's 1984 film and John Harrison's 2000 television miniseries. After an unsuccessful attempt by Paramount Pictures to produce a new adaptation, Legendary Pictures acquired the Dune film and television rights in 2016, with Villeneuve signing on as director in February 2017. Production contracts were secured only for the first film, relying on its success before a sequel would be produced. Principal photography took place from March to July 2019 at locations including Budapest, Jordan, Norway, and Abu Dhabi.

In the distant future, Duke Leto Atreides, ruler of the planet Caladan, is assigned by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to replace Baron Vladimir Harkonnen as the fiefholder of Arrakis, a harsh desert planet and the sole source of "spice", a valuable psychotropic substance that imparts heightened vitality and awareness. Spice is also key to interstellar travel, giving Spacing Guild Navigators the ability to guide starships to traverse space instantaneously and safely. Emperor Shaddam, fearful of Leto's rising power, plots for House Harkonnen to retake Arrakis, secretly aided by his Sardaukar troops, and destroy House Atreides. Leto is suspicious of the Emperor but weighs the risks against the power of controlling Arrakis and making an alliance with its mysterious natives, the Fremen.

House Atreides arrives at Arrakeen, the principal stronghold on Arrakis. Duncan's advance party has made contact with the Fremen. The natives revere Paul and Jessica, which she explains is due to the Bene Gesserit sowing beliefs on Arrakis centuries earlier. An attempt to assassinate Paul with a hunter-seeker fails. At a secret meeting on Giedi Prime, Mohiam insists Baron Harkonnen spare Paul and Jessica in his coup, to which he duplicitously agrees.

Leto meets and negotiates with Fremen chieftain Stilgar and meets the Imperial Judge of the Change, Dr. Liet Kynes, a planetologist who lives among the Fremen. Kynes briefs them on the dangers of spice harvesting, and the giant sandworms that travel under the desert and render unwise the use of protective shields. During a flight, they rescue a stranded spice-harvesting crew from a sandworm, and Paul's exposure to the spice triggers intense premonitions.

After conquering Arrakis, Baron Harkonnen appoints his nephew Rabban to oversee the planet and orders him to restart spice production to recoup the invasion's cost. Meanwhile, Duncan and Kynes find Jessica and Paul, who disclose his plan to marry one of Emperor Shaddam's daughters to avert a potential civil war arising from the Emperor's betrayal. However, they are discovered by Sardaukar soldiers armed with a lasgun. Duncan sacrifices himself, enabling Paul and Jessica's escape. Kynes also tries to escape but is caught and mortally wounded, and lures a sandworm to her location to devour herself and the Sardaukar. Deep in the desert, Paul and Jessica encounter Stilgar's Fremen tribe, including Chani, the young woman from Paul's visions. Despite Stilgar's lenience towards them, Fremen warrior Jamis challenges Paul to a ritual duel to the death, which Paul wins. Contrary to Jessica's wishes, Paul joins the Fremen, determined to fulfill his father's goal of allying with them against the Harkonnen to bring Arrakis peace.

Additionally, Benjamin Clementine portrays the Herald of the Change, the head of an Imperial delegation to Caladan. Marianne Faithfull, Jean Gilpin, and Ellen Dubin voice the ancestral Bene Gesserit whose voices are heard by Paul in his visions.[4] Joe Walker, the film's editor, provides the narration for Paul's filmbook guides for Arrakis.[6]

Following the publication of Frank Herbert's novel Dune in 1965, it was considered as having potential for a possible film adaptation. Since 1971, various producers have held film adaptation rights for the novel. Attempts to make an adaptation based on the book were considered to be "unfilmable" due to its breadth of content.[7][8][9] The book's status among fans meant that deviations without strong justification could potentially harm the film's reputation.[10]

Alejandro Jodorowsky acquired the rights in the 1970s to make a fourteen-hour adaptation of the book, but the project ultimately failed to secure sufficient funds. This development effort became the subject of the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune (2013).[11] David Lynch's Dune, produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis in 1984, was intended as a three-hour film but was cut to 137 minutes; it was poorly received and Lynch himself ended up disowning it.[10][12] In 1996, producer Richard P. Rubinstein acquired the rights to the novel. Frank Herbert's Dune, a live-action miniseries produced by Rubinstein and directed by John Harrison, aired on the Sci Fi Channel in 2000; it was a ratings hit and was generally better received than Lynch's film. Some reviewers criticized the miniseries for lacking the spectacle afforded to a feature film production, as well as for staying too faithful to the book and being bogged down by exposition.[13][14] Prospects to make a successful adaptation of Dune improved after the critical and commercial success of the film series adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which maintained most of the works' key characters and plots while managing the limited running time.[10] In 2008, Paramount Pictures hired Peter Berg to direct an adaptation.[15] Berg left the project in October 2009,[16] with director Pierre Morel being hired in January 2010.[17] Paramount later cancelled the project in March 2011, as they could not come to key agreements, with their rights reverting to Rubinstein.[18][19]

In 2011, Mary Parent, vice chair of worldwide production for Legendary Pictures, and her producer partner Cale Boyter, acquired adaptation rights for Dune.[20] Legendary obtained film and TV rights for Dune in November 2016.[21][22] Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve expressed interest in the project in September 2016, saying that "a longstanding dream of mine is to adapt Dune, but it's a long process to get the rights, and I don't think I will succeed".[23] By December, Villeneuve was in talks with the studio to direct the film.[24] His enthusiasm to direct a Dune film earned Parent's respect, with Parent hiring Villeneuve after hearing him describe his vision for the film. He chose to complete Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) first, as he wanted to spend more time to develop Dune and co-write it himself, employing his past experience directing science fiction films during development.[20][25] Villeneuve signed on to direct the film by January 2017, approximately one week after earning a nomination Academy Award for Best Director for Arrival.[26] By that February, Villeneuve was officially confirmed as the director.[27]

Some of Villeneuve's previous collaborators on Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 returned for Dune, including film editor Joe Walker,[28] production designer Patrice Vermette, visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert, sound designer and editor Theo Green, sound editor Mark Mangini,[29] and special effects supervisor Gerd Nefzer.[30] Other previous collaborators were slated to work on Dune but dropped out before production began, including visual effects supervisor John Nelson[31] and cinematographer Roger Deakins, who was replaced in December 2018 with Greig Fraser.[32] Dune was produced by Villeneuve, Parent, and Cale Boyter, with Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison, and Herbert W. Gain serving as executive producers and Kevin J. Anderson as creative consultant.[33][34] Game of Thrones language creator David J. Peterson was confirmed as a constructed language developer for the film in April 2019.[35]

In March 2018, Villeneuve stated that his goal was to adapt the novel into a two-part film series.[36] He secured a two-movie deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, in the same style as the two-part adaptation of Stephen King's It in 2017 and in 2019. He chose to make two films as he felt that the novel was too large and complex for one.[37] Subsequent dealings secured the production of the first film and new production deals were made to start production for the second.[38] Eric Roth was hired to co-write the screenplay in April, [39] with Legendary CEO Joshua Grode affirming that the studio planned on making a sequel.[40] Roth, who had read the book as a child, had a neutral opinion of it, which allowed him to have an "objective view of it". He wrote a 50-page treatment for the film and focused on appealing to groups of people who enjoyed the book, did not remember nor care for the book, and those who were not familiar with it at all.[41] Villeneuve completed a first draft of the script by May 2018,[42][43] Producer Brian Herbert stated that the fourth draft of the screenplay, submitted in July, would cover the first half of the events from the novel,[44] while Jon Spaihts was later hired as co-writer alongside Roth and Villeneuve in September.[45] Though the book features many elements inspired from Arab and Islamic culture, Spaihts stated the team minimized incorporating them as he felt Arab culture became integrated into the world, resulting in the need to "invent more and borrow less" due to potentially overemphasizing them.[46] Eventually, Roth worked on the film again after completing his work on Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), providing feedback after a screening of the film and aiding in rewrites prior to reshoots.[41]

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