Dune: Part Two is officially coming! While the movie's release date has been moved around like a sandworm through the dunes of Arrakis, things look to be largely set in stone. That means we only have mere months to wait for the hotly-anticipated follow-up to 2021's Dune.
The desire to make Dune: Part Two has existed for a while. At a screening for Dune attended by Tom's Guide staff, Villeneuve revealed that his intent is not just to make a second Dune movie, but to follow Dune: Part Two with an adaptation of Dune Messiah.
But for now, let's focus on Dun: Part Two, which will be the next film in this purported trilogy. Here's everything you need to know about the next Dune movie, from the film's release date and cast, to trailers and more.
Dune: Part Two release date
Dune: Part Two's release date has moved around a few times due to a multitude of reasons. However, the release date for Dune: Part Two is now March 1, 2024, after Warner Bros. and Legendary moved it up two weeks from March 15.
This date could still change, but at the moment it seems set in stone rather than shifting sands. I'd be shocked if it moved again, especially since other movies will likely make way for Dune's sequel — not the other way around.
Dune: Part Two trailers
So far, we've gotten three official trailers from Warner Bros. Discovery for Dune: Part Two. The first one dropped back in May 2023 and starts with a nice, innocent conversation between Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) about swimming. But then, things quickly shift to talks of threats to the empire and revenge. It's clear that swimming will have to wait until the House Harkonnen and the Empire are defeated and the Fremen and House Atreides win back Arrakis.
But the biggest development in this first trailer has to be the introduction of Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, the daughter of the Padishah Emperor who rules the known universe in the Dune series. While we do get a peak at some other new faces, primarily Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), it's clear that Irulan has a large part to play in what is to come.
The second trailer begins the work of spinning Dune out from a simple conflict for revenge and freedom to something with much larger consequences. We see the return of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and emphasis made on the conflict between House Harkonnen and House Atreides. We also get our first look at Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken), who clearly wishes to be rid of the threat of Paul and House Atreides once and for all — and fast.
Finally, an epic third new trailer dropped on December 12, 2023. This trailer focuses more on the far-reaching implications of this universal conflict and, just as importantly, Paul's growing power.
While it largely retreads what we've already seen, there are some notable moments. The Emperor now refers to Paul as a prophet, a role Paul has seemingly been set up for since before his birth. And it's clear that the Emperor will not take the ongoing conflict on Arrakis lightly, sending Austin Bulter's Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen to deal with Paul personally. We also learn more about Butler's Feyd-Rautha and get hints of the Bene Gesserit order's role in the ongoing conflict.
Dune: Part Two cast
Dune: Part Two will bring back a lot of familiar faces, from Chalamet's Paul Atreides to Zendaya's Chani, but it adds some new cast members as well as new players in the conflict on Arrakis are introduced. Here’s who you can expect in Dune: Part Two:
- Timothée Chalamet as Duke Paul Atreides, the leader in exile of House Atreides who is viewed as a prophet by the Fremen and a threat by Emperor Shaddam IV.
- Zendaya as Chani, a young Fremen warrior and Paul's love interest.
- Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the youngest nephew of Baron Harkonnen and the heir apparent of House Harkonnen.
- Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Emperor Shaddam IV’s daughter trained by the Bene Gesserit.
- Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Paul's mother and a member of the Bene Gesserit order.
- Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the ruler of House Harkonnen who engineered the destruction of House Atreides.
- Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, the former weapons master of House Atreides and one of Paul's mentors.
- Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, another nephew of Baron Harkonnen who is initially tasked with ruling Arrakis.
- Christopher Walken as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of House Corrino and ruler of the known universe in the Dune series.
- Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, a Mentat who has been forced to serve House Harkonnen but secretly remains loyal to House Atreides.
- Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot, a member of the Bene Gesserit who is an advisor to Emperor Shaddam IV.
- Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, a Reverend Mother in the Bene Gesserit order and the Emperor's personal Truthsayer.
- Javier Bardem as Stilgar, leader of the Fremen tribe at Sietch Tabr that Paul is embedded with
- Souheila Yacoub as Shishakli, a Fremen warrior new to the story in Dune: Part Two.
Dune: Part Two poster
We did get a cool poster from Warner Bros. to promote the upcoming release of Dune: Part Two. While the release date of November 3, 2023, is now not only inaccurate but far in the past, the theme of "Long live the fighters" still seems to be a prominent theme of Villeneuve's next chapter in the Dune film franchise.
Dune (2021) recap
If you're planning on watching Dune: Part Two, you need to have watched Dune: Part One. despite being titled simply Dune for marketing reasons, the first film is definitely just the first part of the story and is even titled "Part One" on screen.
Things in Part Two will pick up about right where we left off, so if you haven't seen the 2021 movie stop what you're doing and go watch it. But if you have, let's do a quick refresher on what happened.
In the first Dune movie, we meet House Atreides, led by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac). The Duke has a son Paul (Chalamet), who Leto fathered with his Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). Because of his parentage, Paul himself has been trained not only in the arts of war and leadership but in the mystical ways of the Bene Gesserit order as well. However, he seems yet to have mastered any of his teachings.
However, things get moving once the Emperor of the known universe orders Duke Leto and House Atreides to take command of the planet Arrakis from House Harkonnen. This is a major shift in the politics of the empire, as Arrakis is home to "spice" which allows the Spacing Guild's navigators to conduct interstellar travel. Without it, the empire would collapse.
Unfortunately, for House Atreides, it appears that this is all a plan to wipe out the rising House Atreides once and for all. Before Leto and his house can gain much of a foothold on the desert planet, House Harkonnen and the Emperor's own Sardaukar troops (disguised as Harkonnen troops) invade to reclaim the planet and destroy House Atreides.
This plan largely works, but there are two hiccups. First, in a final desperate move, Leto bites a poison gas capsule, killing himself, Baron Harkonnen's Mentat Piter De Vries (David Dastmalchian) and gravely wounding the baron (Stellan Skarsgård), though the baron does ultimately survive.
The biggest mistake though, is that Paul and Lady Jessica survive. Thanks to her Bene Gesserit techniques and some survival supplies, they are able to trek through the desert till they find the Fremen, including Stilgar (Javier Bardem), a Fremen leader with whom Leto had been establishing diplomatic ties before the Harkonnen invasion, and Chani (Zendaya), a girl that Paul has been seeing in spice-induced visions.
Paul and Jessica's arrival is not welcome by all Fremen though, and one ultimately challenges Paul to a ritual duel. Paul wins the duel and requests to join the Fremen (against Jessica's wishes). This brings peace between House Atreides and the native Fremen, but now the work of war against House Harkonnen begins.
