Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune: Part 2’ Is Much Better Than ‘Part 1’
After a strike-related delay, Denis Villeneuve is finally readying the conclusion of his adaptation of Dune for release in the spring of next year. And if you loved the first movie (I certainly did!), Villeneuve says the second film is even better.
“For me, this film is much better than Part One,” Villeneuve told a press conference in Korea. “There’s something more alive in it. There’s a relationship to the characters. I was trying to reach for an intensity and a quality of emotions that I didn’t reach with Part One and that I did reach with Part Two. I’m not saying the film is perfect, but I’m much more happy with Part Two than I was with Part One.”
READ MORE: Denis Villeneuve Wants to Direct More Dune Movies
Villeneuve also talked about his desire to make a third film based on Frank Herbert’s epic series of sci-fi novels. (The first two movies adapt the original Herbert Dune novel, but he wrote quite a few more books, and the series has continued even after Herbert’s death.) He revealed that the script for a third film, Dune Messiah (the name of Herbert’s second book), “is being written now” and is “almost finished.”
He described the idea of making the third film as “a dream,” a phrase he has previously used when talking about the project. Villeneuve also noted, though, that for his “mental sanity” he might do “something in between” Dune: Part Two and returning to the material for Dune Messiah, because these projects are such massive undertakings. “But,” he added, “my dream would be to go a last time on this planet that I love.”
Dune: Part Two is currently scheduled to premiere in theaters on March 1, 2024. Watch the full press conference below:
