Legendary is looking to give audiences an extremely ambitious space opera epic with Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune” the Frank Herbert novel is considered to be “Lord of The Rings” of the sci-fi fantasy genre. With that in mind, they keep hinting that this will become a franchise and new comments seems to reinforce those plans.
If you thought recent comments about Denis Villeneuve actively working on the “Dune: Part Two” script was the filmmaker being optimistic about building a franchise for Legendary. He’s now giving the impression that they could begin shooting as early as next fall.
“I think realistically that we could start filming in the fall of 2022. It would be pretty quick, but it would be good,” Villeneuve told French-Canadian outlet La Presse (translated via Google) on a possible 2022 shoot for his “Dune” sequel.
He also clarified his recent comments about Chani’s role in the second film and insists Paul is still the main protagonist.
“I mumbled about something about the character of Chani that suggested that the second film would be focused on her. She remains one of the main characters and the role is important, but ‘Dune’ nevertheless remains the story of Paul Atreides first and foremost. Having said that, Zendaya is an incredible actress who inspires me deeply. She really is a movie beast. Its role has also grown in the first part. I put this misunderstanding on my own. This is a case of “lost in translation’,” Villeneuve clarified how Chani factors into the second film.
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A second ‘Dune” film would focus on Paul assembling a massive army of Fremen to combat the ruthless Harkonnen, as he essentially becomes a mythical messiah figure to the inhabitants of Arrakis. It’s essentially the second half of the first novel and allows them to adapt multiple books in the future for even more sequels.
“Dune” will hit both theaters and HBO Max on October 22.