Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American epic science fiction film, directed and produced by Denis Villeneuve, who collaborated with Jon Spaihts to write the script. It is the second of two parts that translate Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune into a film, the sequel to Dune (2021). It centers on Paul Atreides as he teams up with the Fremen of the planet Arrakis’ desert to fight the House Harkonnen. Joining the ensemble cast are Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, and Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, and Zendaya, reprising their roles from the previous movie.
After Legendary Entertainment purchased the Dune movie and television rights in 2016, development got underway. Given the intricacy of the work, Villeneuve intended to adapt it into two parts when he took on the role of director in 2017. Only the first film’s production contracts were obtained; the second movie’s approval depended on the first’s box office performance.
Warner Bros. Pictures reassured Villeneuve that if the first film did well on HBO Max, a sequel would be produced. Villeneuve was worried about the sequel’s certainty following the film’s simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release. Dune: Part Two was given the go-ahead by Warner Bros. and Legendary in October 2021 following the critical and financial triumph of the first movie. Between July and December of 2022, principal photography was conducted in Budapest, Italy, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi.
The film debuted at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on February 15, 2024, and was distributed in the United States on March 1. The picture was originally scheduled to be released in November 2023, but was postponed owing to labor issues in Hollywood in 2023. The movie is the highest-grossing movie of 2024 after earning over $708 million worldwide and receiving positive reviews from critics. Based on Herbert’s 1969 book Dune Messiah, a sequel is currently being developed.
Plot of the Movie
After House Harkonnen destroyed House Atreides, Princess Irulan, Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV’s daughter, privately records her disapproval of her father’s betrayal of the Atreides. Paul Atreides and his expectant mother Lady Jessica of Bene Gesserit defeat a Harkonnen patrol on Arrakis as part of Stilgar’s Fremen army. While Stilgar and others perceive evidence of the prophesy that a mother and son from the “Outer World” will bring wealth to Arrakis, some Fremen believe Jessica and Paul are spies when they arrive in Sietch Tabr.
Stilgar informs Jessica that the Reverend Mother of Sietch Tabr is nearing her death and that Jessica must take her place by consuming the Water of Life, a poison that kills men and unskilled women alike. Jessica absorbs the memories of all the previous Reverend Mothers as she transmutes and endures the poison. Additionally, the liquid prematurely wakes Alia’s pregnant daughter’s intellect, enabling Jessica to speak with her; they decide to concentrate on persuading the more doubtful northern Fremen of the prophesy. When Paul says he just wants to fight with the Fremen, not dominate them, Chani and her friend Shishakli start to admire Paul, even if they are right to think the prophesy was made up to control the Fremen.
As Paul immerses himself in Fremen culture—becoming fluent in their language, training to be a Fedaykin fighter, riding a sandworm, and conducting raids on Harkonnen spice operations—he and Chani fall in love. Paul takes up the Fremen monikers “Muad’Dib” and “Usul”. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen installs his more crafty but insane younger nephew Feyd-Rautha as Arrakis’s king in place of his nephew Rabban due to the ongoing raids for spices. A Bene Gesserit named Lady Margot Fenring is dispatched to assess Feyd-Rautha as a potential Kwisatz Haderach and preserve his genetic heritage.
Jessica heads south to join the Fremen fundamentalists who have the strongest prophetic belief. Paul stays in the north because he fears that if he travels south as a messiah, his visions of a cataclysmic holy war would come true. Paul reunites with Gurney Halleck during another assault on a spice harvester, and Halleck shows Paul the way to House Atreides’ covert atomic stash.
After Feyd-Rautha launches a crushing attack on the northern Fremen, Paul and the survivors are forced to travel south, among them Sietch Tabr. Paul consumes the Water of Life upon arriving and passes out. Chani is enraged by this, but Jessica forces her to add tears to the drink, waking him up in the process. With his newly acquired ability to look into the future and past, Paul spots an adult Alia on a water-filled Arrakis. He also believes that Jessica is the Baron’s daughter and that there is only one way to triumph above all other outcomes.
Paul addresses a war council of southern Fremen, inspiring the assembly with his ability to read people’s innermost thoughts. When Shaddam shows up on Arrakis with Irulan and the Sardaukar, he challenges Shaddam and introduces himself as the Lisan al Gaib. While Shaddam is berating the Harkonnens for their shortcomings, the Fremen go on the attack, defeating the Sardaukar with atomic bombs and sandworms. After Paul puts the Baron to death, Shaddam and his group are apprehended. Gurney, in the meantime, launches an attack on Arrakeen, stopping and killing a runaway Rabban.
To Chani’s dismay, Paul declares himself ready to wed Irulan and challenges Shaddam to the throne. The Great Houses, previously called by the Baron, arrive in orbit; Paul threatens to use atomic weapons to destroy the spice fields if they interfere. Feyd-Rautha offers himself as Shaddam’s champion, but in a combat, Paul murders him. Irulan consents to marry Paul as long as her father continues to live. With reluctance, Shaddam kneels down and gives Paul’s signet ring a kiss.
Paul gives the command for the Fremen to assault the circling fleet when the Great Houses reject his claim to supremacy. Jessica and Alia consider the start of Paul’s holy war as Stilgar leads the Fremen into the captured Sardaukar ships. Chani rides out on a sandworm by herself, refusing to submit to Paul.
