Dune Director Optimistic There Will Be A Sequel, Under One Condition

We've known for some time that the upcoming Dune from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures would just be half of the story, with the studio recently confirming the full title is in fact Dune: Part One. Speaking in a new interview, director Denis Villeneuve has reiterated what we all expected, that Dune: Part Two isn't a guarantee, but luckily that's the bad news. The good news is that in the same interview Villeneuve confirmed that the confidence and love that studio has for the movie give it a huge threshold for the follow-up to become a reality and that it would have to be a major failure to not complete the story.

"We have been hearing in the past few decades that it's not possible to adapt this book, and that it's an impossible task. I think that in the back of the mind of the studio, it's still the same!" Villeneuve told Total Film. "So the first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that – everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project. They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a Dune: Part Two, because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, I'm very optimistic."

Villeneuve went on to reveal he's in the midst of writing the screenplay for Part Two, and he's loving this aspect of the work.

"I'm writing [Part Two] now, and I feel like I'm eight years old again," he added. "That's very uncommon for me. It's the first time I've experienced it where I'm watching one of my movies, and I have a moment of deep gratitude, of deep joy, and I say, 'Thank you, life, for having allowed me to bring that to the screen.' [laughs] I don't know how other people will feel about it. But me? Denis Villeneuve when he was 14 years old? Thank you."

Dune opens in theaters and streams on on HBO Max starting on October 22nd.

Warner Bros. describes Dune as "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."