Spice up your life, it’s almost time to return to Arrakis and see what Paul and the Fremen are up to next. Here’s everything we know about the Dune 2 release date, cast, and plot.
It’s been a long time coming, and delays certainly haven’t helped matters, but we are now mere weeks away from the next instalment of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune saga. And, if it’s anything like the epic first movie, we’re in for a treat.
Based on the series of novels by Frank Hebert, the story of Dune was supposed to be unfilmable (just ask David Lynch), but somehow, Villeneuve managed it. He did such a good job that there’s even talk of a Dune 3, but that’s a tale for another day.
For now, let’s discover all there is to know about the Dune 2 release date, the plethora of stars in the cast, and what the next adventure is all about.
Dune 2 release date: When does it come out?
Dune 2, aka Dune: Part Two, will be released on March 1, 2024.
First locked in with a November 17, 2023 release date, the sequel was then pushed up by two weeks when Marvel announced that its Blade reboot would be pushed back and released in 2024. Dune: Part Two then took the spot in early November, which worked out perfectly as The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes were originally set to release on November 17 and the two highly anticipated films would’ve clashed in theaters.
However, due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Warner Bros. delayed the movie until 2024. As a result, the film was pushed back four months and will now be released at the start of March 2024.
Dune 2 cast: Who’s in it?
The cast of Dune 2 sees a bunch of returning A-list actors while also adding some familiar faces to its ranks. Check out the full list below:
- Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides
- Zendaya as Chani
- Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan
- Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
- Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV
- Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica
- Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck
- Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
- Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban
- Javier Bardem as Stilgar
- Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides
While Chalamet had a large role in Part One as he was one of the main characters, Zendaya will be stepping up in the sequel as her character will have much more do. Chalamet’s character mostly saw her in visions during the first movie, but the two will finally embark on a real relationship in Dune: Part Two.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Dune director Denis Villeneuve explained that, while Part Two is a “war epic action movie,” he didn’t want the love story between Chalamet and Zendaya be lost amongst the battles. He went onto state: “I kept saying to my crew, ‘The most important thing is that spark, that relationship between both of these characters.’ If we don’t capture that, if we don’t have that onscreen, there’s no movie. The epicenter of the story is this relationship.”
Chalamet echoed Villeneuve’s sentiments in the same interview as he referred to Zendaya’s character as “a key to his own.” He explained further, “[The] relationship [with] Chani sort of becomes a moral compass. She’s really the humanizing, grounding force to [the messianic prophecy that looms around his hero].”
Along with returning characters, there are some new faces amongst the cast. Two of the most notable additions are Florence Pugh and Austin Butler. Pugh has been cast as Princess Irulan, the daughter of the emperor who’s trying to help her father keep his power over the universe. And Butler will be playing Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the violent, sadistic nephew of Stellan Skarsgård’s character who’s hellbent on destroying Paul and his allies. It will be interesting to see how Pugh and Butler fit into this unique universe.
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Dune 2 plot: What’s it about?
The plot of Dune 2 will follow the second half of Herbert’s books, but there won’t be spoilers in this summary. In short, the film will see Paul Atreides team up with the Fremen to bring peace to Arrakis.
After his family was torn apart at the end of Dune: Part One, Paul and his mother, Lady Rebecca, come into contact with Chani and the Fremen. The two factions work together in their fight to bring peace to Arrakis while fending off vicious attacks from their enemies, especially those from Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his nephews.
As Herbert’s novel is a whopping 412-pages long, Villeneuve decided to split the novel into two parts because, while this isn’t the longest novel to get a film adaptation, the world within it is incredibly complex. Dune: Part One was used as a world-building vessel while Dune: Part Two will dive more into the social and political relationships between its extensive cast of characters.
Denis Villeneuve has also stated that he thinks that Dune 2 is much better than the first: “I won’t say the film is perfect, but I’m much more happy with Part 2 than I was with Part 1.”
The length of Dune 2 has also reportedly been revealed, with a runtime of 2 hours and 46 minutes. But, that may still not be enough to tell this unwieldy story, and we reckon there will be more Dune movies to come.
Is there a trailer for Dune 2?
A new trailer for Dune: Part Two was released on December 12, 2023. Check it out below:
The first trailer for Dune 2 was just released on May 3, 2023. Check it out below:
The trailer sees Paul Atreides (Chalamet) living amongst the Fremen and getting closer to Chani (Zendaya). We get a full-on look at Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Butler) in all his bald head, no eyebrow having glory as Princess Irulan (Pugh) muses about the fall of House Arteides and questions if Paul could still be alive.
The biggest piece of the trailer, however, comes at the end when Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and Paul discuss Paul’s attempt to try to catch and ride a sandworm, a mode of transportation amongst the Fremen. In a moment of triumph at the end of the trailer, Chani, Stilgar, and the Fremen watch as he tries and succeeds to ride it, as they play a big role in the war to come.
Dune: Part Two’s third trailer showcases more visuals from the film including the Fremen riding sandworms as a unit, Paul having more nightmarish visions of the war to come, and a look at how violent and cruel Feyd-Rautha will be.
That’s everything we know about Dune 2 so far, but we’ll be sure to update this page as announcements roll out. In the meantime, check out our other upcoming movie & TV hubs below:
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