Legendary Pictures has announced in an official way that Dune: Part Two is happening, meaning director Denis Villeneuve will be able to complete the epic adventure production he began. The franchise has undergone a somewhat miraculous journey to reach this moment.
In the first place, the original Dune film from David Lynch bombed, casting a shadow over all subsequent adaptations and raising questions about the financial viability of this new Denis Villeneuve film. Then the pandemic happened, stifling movie ticket sales across the board. Then the announcement last year that Dune would release simultaneously on HBO Max for 30 days cast even more dark clouds over the movie’s financial prospects. However, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune ultimately released to a positive critical reception (including a resoundingly positive review from our Darren Mooney), which in turn translated into a terrific (for this era) weekend box office of $40.1 million. It seems that number was encouraging enough for Legendary Pictures to make Dune: Part Two production official.
This is only the beginning…
Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey! pic.twitter.com/mZj68Hnm0A
— Legendary (@Legendary) October 26, 2021
The Dune franchise is a science fiction juggernaut in its source material, but multimedia success has been fleeting. It has received video game adaptations of varying quality, for example. However, Denis Villeneuve has apparently tapped into something special (and animalistic) with his film, and Dune: Part Two entering official production is bound to make many happy.
