We’ve known for a while that Legendary and Warner Bros. have been musing the idea of splitting the first Dune novel into two parts, with the December 18th film expected to be part one.
This has now been confirmed by director Denis Villeneuve while speaking with Vanity Fair to promote the film in their exclusive article that includes a heap of first-look images from the film.
Villeneuve intends to create a Dune that has so far only existed in the imagination of readers. The key, he says, was to break the sprawling narrative in half. When Dune hits theaters on December 18, it will only be half the novel, with Warner Bros. agreeing to tell the story in two films, similar to the studio’s approach with Stephen King’s It and It Chapter Two.
VILLENEUVE: “I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie,” says Villeneuve. “The world is too complex. It’s a world that takes its power in details.”
Hopefully, this means they’re open to moving forward with adapting more than just the first novel as they have plenty of source material to make multiple sequels.
DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
We already know that Legendary had taken off screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) from the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood to instead begin writing the second film after working on the first one.
However, it’s not known if they shot that second part or will return to that part of the story as there is a time-jump.
