For fans, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune checked off just about every detail they could have asked for in its adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel — or at least the first half of it, which is what the first film covered. However, there was one thing that didn’t appear in the first film that fans missed and as it turns out, it is something that Villeneuve wanted to include, so much so that when it comes to Dune: Part Two, it turned into a major priority for him to make it happen. Speaking with Empire, Villeneuve revealed that getting Josh Brolin’s Gurney Halleck playing the Baliset was a “weird priority” for him in the follow up film.
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The scene, in which Gurney played the nine-stringed instrument, was unfortunately cut from the first film, but Villeneuve is excited to share it in Dune: Part Two.
“The Gurney song survived Part Two,” Villeneuve said. “It became a weird priority for me. But Josh Brolin is a poet and we played it together. It was awesome.”
Villeneuve Promises Dune: Part Two “Delivers” on the First Film’s Promise
While fans will have to wait just a bit longer for Dune: Part Two — the film was slated to hit theaters in November, but was recently pushed back to March 14, 2024 — the filmmaker says Part Two will deliver.
“Part One was like the promise of something, but Part Two delivers on that,” Villeneuve shared with the outlet. “I’m exhausted, but a happy director.”
He continued, “The first movie was more contemplative — a young man discovering a world. Here, it’s a war movie … At the very core is a love story between Paul and Chani … How Paul will gain her trust, how she will open her heart to him, and how they will find a way to free Chani’s world from the Harkonnen grip. It’s a much more emotional movie.”
Will There Be a Dune: Part Three?
While we do still have to wait for Dune: Part Two, fans are already wondering if there will be a third film. Part Two is set to complete the adaptation of the original Dune novel, but a third film would take on Dune Messiah, the first of the sequel novels — and Villeneuve says he is interested in continuing.
“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” Villeneuve tells Empire. “Dune Messiah was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero. Which is not what he wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.” While much depends on Dune: Part Two‘s box office performance, Villeneuve is planning ahead. “I will say, there are words on paper,” he teased.
Villeneuve does then confirm that a Dune Messiah adaptation would be where his involvement in adapting The Dune Chronicles would end, heading off the broader sci-fi weirdness that begins to crop up in later novels. “After that the books become more… esoteric,” Villeneuve says.
Everything You Need to Know About Dune: Part Two
In Dune: Part Two, according to its synopsis, “Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”
The Dune: Part Two cast includes returning stars Timothée Chalamet as Duke Paul Atredies, Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonen, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat. New additions to Dune: Part Two‘s cast include Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Christopher Walken as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot, and Souheila Yacoub as Shishakli.
Dune: Part Two opens in theaters on March 14, 2024. Dune is streaming now on Max.
