Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, adapted from Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction saga, is one of the most anticipated films of 2021. And for good reason. With an all-star cast of veterans and newcomers alike, a film score composed by none other than Hans Zimmer, and a riveting space-opera plot sure to create a whole new generation of die-hard fans, Dune is projected to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters.
The first book in Herbert’s series was published in 1965, and stands as one of the most popular sci-fi novels of all time. The entire Dune series spans six books, multiple planets, and thousands of years. That’s a lot of ground to cover. As such, Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film will adapt the first half of the first novel only, and will be broken into two feature films.
As Dune fans ourselves here at Collider, we can’t wait to see our favorite elements from the novels play out on the big screen. In the meantime, we’ve put together everything we know about the film so far, from release dates to cast and character details, and even included a few hints at what audiences can expect to see in the film.
Editor's Note: This post was last updated on September 5 to include the latest Dune news, including the first reviews out of Venice Film Festival.
Watch the Dune Trailers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9xhJrPXop4
Talk of Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation had been circulating for some time, but when the official trailer — featuring Hans Zimmer’s killer rendition of Pink Floyd — dropped in September of 2020, the already established Duniverse fandom (myself included) lost its collective mind.
After all, there’s a lot in the trailer for Dune fans to be hyped about: a sampling of the famous “fear is the mind-killer” mantra delivered by Timothee Chalamet, thousands of Sardaukar super-soldiers dropping down from the sky, and even a peek at the other-worldly “Shai-Hulud” -- the massive sandworms feared and revered on the desert-planet Arrakis.
But that's not all! Warner Bros. released a second, slightly longer trailer in July 2021 that was jam-packed with new footage.
When Is the Dune Release Date?
After many changed dates, the release for Dune has again been pushed back — now, to October 22, 2021. In a controversial move, Warner Brothers agreed to release Dune on their streaming service HBO Max on the same day the film will hit theaters. As of right now (and despite reports to the contrary), that plan still stands. Dune will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22nd.
Shortly after the HBO Max release was announced, Villeneuve came out critically against the decision. He was quoted as saying:
“There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth…Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune’s scope and scale.”
Villeneuve was not alone in this sentiment, with actors, creatives, and other directors also critical of the company’s decision.
But while Dune will be released to the public in October, it will screen for critics before then. The film will have its world premiere on September 3rd at the Venice Film Festival, and will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival the following week.
Is Dune Getting Good Reviews?
Dune finally premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, which means we finally have some insight on what to expect from the film from folks who have seen it! So is Dune good? Does it live up to the source material or do we have another misfire on our hands? Overall, the reviews out of Venice have been pretty glowing, with a few outliers.
Collider's Steve Weintraub called the film a "masterpiece," continuing, "Everything about Dune works. From Hans Zimmer’s AMAZING score to Greig Fraser’s stunning cinematography to Bob Morgan and Jacqueline West’s gorgeous costumes…the movie feels like they went to the other side of the galaxy and filmed what was really happening." You can see more of his thoughts and the first social reactions here.
The film is currently sitting at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and here's a sampling of the reviews:
From The Los Angeles Times:
"With methodical poise and seat-rattling spectacle, the French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve (who wrote the script with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth) draws you into an astonishingly vivid, sometimes plausibly unnerving vision of the future."
The Independent's five-star review also praises the epic scale:
"Villeneuve’s Dune is the sandworm exploding out from the darkness below. It is a film of such literal and emotional largeness that it overwhelms the senses."
On the less positive side of things, there's IndieWire's review, which suggests that epic scale might be the film's undoing:
"In the end, Denis Villeneuve was all too right: Your television isn’t big enough for the scope of his “Dune,” but that’s only because this lifeless spice opera is told on such a comically massive scale that a screen of any size would struggle to contain it. Likewise, no story — let alone the misshapen first half of one — could ever hope to support the enormity of what Villeneuve tries to build over the course of these interminable 155 minutes (someone mentions that time is measured differently on Arrakis), or the sheer weight of the self-serious portent that he pounds into every shot."
Similarly, Vanity Fair's review suggests Villeneuve's film gets lost in its own enormity:
"Some vexing, inscrutable mystery and preening opacity can be fun. But there ought to at least be a big, central Why animating a film. Otherwise, it’s all just a bunch of pretty shots of sand and fire and lavish costumery with no guiding spirit. By the end of Dune (Part One), I was ready to leave the whole thing to the enormous worms who move through Arrakis devouring all the little things that matter to us petty humans. Watching as Villeneuve’s film eats itself up, those beasts started to seem pretty familiar."
Stay tuned for Collider's official review as the film gets closer to its release date.
Who Is in the Dune Cast?
The cast of Dune is composed of a stacked group of talent including Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Sharon Duncan-Brester, and other talented actors.
Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, son of the Duke Atreides of the water-planet Caladan and heir to the Atreides bloodline. Paul possesses genetically-trained attributes which make him a much- sought out figure among many religious and political structures throughout the universe.
Oscar Isaac is the Duke Leto Atreides, the fair leader of Caladan who is tasked by the emperium with uprooting his family and feudal house to the desert-planet Arrakis, where he will oversee the spice-mining operations there.
Zendaya is Chani, a “Fremen,” or native of Arrakis, who is well-trained in the way of spice-use and life in the desert, and who is the subject of many of Paul’s precognitive dreams on Caladan.
Rebecca Ferguson plays Lady Jessica, who is the partner to Duke Leto and mother of Paul Atreides. Jessica belongs to the secret order of women — the Bene Gesserit -— and is trained in incredible feats of physical and mental manipulation.
Jason Mamoa is the skilled swordsman and loyal member of House Atreides, Duncan Idaho. Duncan Idaho plays a prominent role throughout the Dune series of novels, and Momoa is sure to accurately portray Idaho’s exploits — both on the battlefield and in the bedroom.
Josh Brolin plays the closest confidant to Leto and Paul Atreides, Gurney Halleck. Most of the time Halleck is overseeing the Atreides military, or training the family members to remain the incredibly effective combat-fighters that they are. But beneath that rough exterior is a softer man who enjoys writing poetry and playing music.
Stellan Skarsgård plays the repulsive Baron Valdimir Harkonnen of House Harkonnen, feudal adversary of House Atreides. House Harkonnen originally directed the spice operations on Arrakis, up until the emperor assigned the task to House Atreides.
Dave Bautista is Glossu Rabban, nephew and minion of Baron Harkonnen. Rabban is a killer by command, and is trained to ferociously enforce Harkonnen rule over the spice-mining on Arrakis.
Javier Bardem plays Stilgar, the leader of a Fremen “sietch,” or tribe, on Arrakis. Stilgar helps Jessica and Paul survive in the desert when they flee the capital city of Arrakeen following an attack by the Harkonnens.
Charlotte Rampling is the formidable Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, Gaius Helen Mohiam. A Reverend Mother is the highest ranking member of the Bene Gesserit, who administers the test of humanity to certain humans which display talents and attributes beyond human capabilities (such as Paul Atreides does).
Sharon Duncan-Brester plays Liet-Kynes, a Fremen scientist and planetologist employed by the galactic emperor, who advocates for the terraforming of the desert-planet Arrakis into a water-planet like Caladan. Kynes is also Chani’s mother in Villeneuve’s film, where the original character in the novels is Chani’s father.
What Can We Expect to See from the Novel?
The first trailer alone tells us a lot about which elements from the novel we can expect to see in the film. The opening shots and Paul’s monologue hint at his prescient abilities to “see the future,” including the religious crusade that plays out over multiple books in the series.
Audiences will also be introduced to the Bene Gesserit and their beloved “Gom Jabbar” — a poison-tipped needle worn on the end of the finger and used in their “death-alternative test of human awareness,” which we see Paul experiencing in the trailer.
We can also expect a full display of the technology from the novels paraded on screen, as the film’s trailer shows us the various “shield” defenses used by the Atreides, along with their use of “ornithopters” for travel.The water-recycling “stillsuits” worn by the desert Fremen, coupled with their fully indigo-blue eyes, are also true to the novels. Plus, audiences are sure to get their fill of fighting between feudal houses, and lots of battles fought among Fremen warriors and Sardaukar super-soldiers.
Additionally, a Dune adaptation wouldn’t be complete without the megalithic sandworms that the entire story centers on, and from the looks of the trailer, “Shai-Hulud” himself will make a grand appearance — one that is sure to live up to the all the wormy glory of the novels. In fact, as a Dune fan I can remember the exact sandworm scenes in the novel that we see in the trailer — a fact that makes me very excited to go see the movie.
What Is Dune: The Sisterhood?
Dune: The Sisterhood is an HBO Max prequel series from the Dune movie, and will follow the lives of the women within the Bene Gesserit.
The Bene Gesserit are an all-female secret society with ancient history and heavy influence on the known universe, and are notorious for their centuries-long genetics programs. Initiates to the Bene Gesserit undergo extensive “Prana-Bindu” training, which makes them capable of seemingly impossible mental and physical feats. The Bene Gesserit are also skilled in voice manipulation, which allows them to control others with just a slight change of vocal intonation.
While we don't know much yet about specific plot and character details for the spinoff, Dune fans should look forward to seeing the political, religious, and biological interweavings of the Bene Gesserit and all their mysterious power, and maybe even some insight to their background and lead-up to Arrakis.
In addition to directing and producing the Dune feature film, Denis Villenueve is executive producer of the Dune: The Sisterhood series, and as of 2019 was attached to direct the pilot episode. The spinoff was originally conceptualized by Jon Spaihts (who co-wrote the film), but he exited the showrunner position in November 2019 to focus on writing the movie sequel.
In June 2021 it was revealed that Diane Ademu-John (The Hautning of Bly Manor) would be taking over as showrunner, and Villeneuve is still attached to direct the first episode.
What Do We Know About the Dune Sequel?
For the few filmmakers that have attempted to adapt Dune in the past, the results have been… interesting. Eccentric director Alejandro Jodorowsky proposed an adaptation of the novel back in the 1970s, with his version featuring Pink Floyd — a factoid that composer Hans Zimmer points to in the 2021 trailer. And, allegedly, Charlotte Rampling (who plays Gaius Helen Mohiam in the 2021 film) dropped out of the role of Lady Jessica in Jodorowsky’s adaptation, due to a scene which would’ve involved thousands of defecating extras.
Similarly, director David Lynch’s 1984 version of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic is now known as a cult-classic, thanks to the it’s-so-bad-its-good uniqueness of the film. Lynch’s film starred Sean Young as Chani, with Young also starring in Blade Runner -- another sci-fi book-based flick that was later recreated by Villeneuve.
All this to say that, taking on the Dune novel will be quite the endeavor. Villeneuve revealed that he only agreed to make Dune if he could split the story up into two films, and Dune 2 is absolutely in the works. Eric Roth, who co-wrote the Dune movie with Villeneuve and Spaihts, wrote a treatment for a Dune sequel when he developed the script for the first movie, but as far as we know Spaihts is the writer on Dune 2.
That said, Villeneuve cast some doubt on the likelihood of the Dune sequel happening when it was announced that Warner Bros. would release the first film in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time:
"Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune’s scope and scale. Warner Bros.’ decision means Dune won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Bros. might just have killed the Dune franchise. ‘This one is for the fans.’ AT&T’s John Stankey said that the streaming horse left the barn. In truth, the horse left the barn for the slaughterhouse."
We'll include more updates on Dune 2 as they become available, but Dune hits theaters (and HBO Max) on October 22 and, Hai-Shalud willing, I’ll be there.